Between the Lines
by GuardPuppy
Summary: It could have been perfect. But he choose solitude over a happy life. AU Rated T to be save.
1. Chapter 1

You know what?

I got so used on writing a story every day that I am freaking bored right now. I wrote some stories for myself, but they are not for other people to read. Although I hate Fangirls and everything related to fangirlsmn, I do have my moments… But I don't show them… usually xD

Anyway. Iiii thought about another project. It might not be one story a day and probably not oneshots , but I need a new story to write. I'll die of boredom.

I am afraid I **might** stumble into another fandom soon… I never wanted to watch a movie that bad. Rise of the Guardians. … why? Because DreamWorks are assholes and I freaking love every stupid movie they make… Blame Shrek from back then… that movie was amazing. And from what I've seen in the trailers… that new movie will be amazing too.

Anyway. I won't ever give up on Grand Chase. I can't. but I you might find other stories soon. I hope you won't hate me too much for it :D

Alright. This story here was planned in late November. I wrote a bit, then thought I could change something and actually planned on uploading it earlier, but things happened, I got pissed off at a lot of things and changed the whole story, then changed it back and now it's not even slightly what I had planned. -.-

_I associate myself with the main character. It just seems to fit._

Written **in 1st person** (Whoo… I rarely do that now… )

**My stories are mine. Do not use them without permission!**

**Disclaimer:** None of these charaters used in here belong to me. They belong to KoG. I only play around with them.

If you would have told me that the time flow in the underworld was different I would have nodded. I knew about that. But if you would have told me _how _different it was I would have laughed. Never mind that, you didn't tell me. So I came back to Aernas out of curiosity. I was sure the portal I used was located somewhere in Kanavan. I also landed in a basement. But it looked different. A long hall with various wooden doors, some with locks, some open, and all kinds of rubbish in there. Whatever it was, I've never seen anything like it. Things that seemed to be made of metal. Two or more wheels attached to them… Baskets, closets…

At least it smelled like a basement. The portal I used disappeared into nothingness. Great. My only way back was gone. Now I had to find someone that could open a portal that was not Dio. Not that I hated him, but we weren't the best friends either.

When I finally found a way out of this mess, I was sure I somehow managed to end up in the wrong dimension. However that was possible. The street was not made of stone, metal boxes on wheels raced past me. They had an unpleasant smell, and they were loud.

As I was wandering around I noticed buildings as tall as trees and higher. As high as a castle sometimes! People dressed in weird clothing… and I mean really weird. Skirts as short as… Agh… demon or not I'm still a man! Never mind that… I was wondering what really happened. Back then I had temporarily resigned from the chase. Knight Master was okay with it. Someone had to look after the child anyway. Lime had been sad that I couldn't take her with me, but she wanted our son to be able to fight. He learned fast… and I treasured him. There was no way I'd turn out to be like my father. However, now that he was about sixteen human years old I had talked to him about going to Aernas. I guess I was a little too overprotective as he seemed awfully relieved that I'd leave him alone for a while. He was able to look after himself. The last time I had to help him was quite a while ago. That still didn't explain why Aernas suddenly seemed so different.

I might have calculated wrong. It could have been more than just sixteen years. The time flow really was different in the Underworld, even different from Elyos. A heavy weight settled in my chest. My brother was a half demon… He could still… No. Probably not. It hurt to think about it. No matter how much I tried to deny it, I cared about him. He was different from other people. Someone who would have been able to understand me completely.

As for the human members… they were probably gone. I closed my eyes and cut off that thought. It was no use thinking about her now. Lime was human… There was no way. The pain I felt when I thought about that brought tears to my eyes. Sighing I blinked them away and tried to think about something else.

Sieghart might still be around. But it was useless to search for him. The other demons lived happily ever after in Elyos. Probably. There was no way I'd ever run into them. Not that I really wanted to anyway.

First things first, I had to figure out where I was, what year this stupid dimension had, and how I'd manage to deal with that information. I didn't like being involved with people because I hated losing them as much as being betrayed by them.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection when I was passing a window. My face hadn't changed. Neither had that scowl. Lass always made fun of it…. At one point he asked me if I even was able to laugh. I honestly don't know. Call it self-pity. It probably was. But I was managing…

My hair went back to brown. However that happened. I never really understood why it got blonde in the first place… Lass blamed it on the bright light in Aernas. It also had gone way too long. I needed to get a haircut. Badly. I always hated the waves in it, but now it was just a long mess of waves that made me look like a homeless. At least it covered my ears. No stupid questions of people about me being an elf or a demon… or something completely different. My eye color also changed. It was lighter… Still red, not the same. But the gaze still as distrustful as always. I wonder if there would ever be a person that I could fully trust. My son probably. Lime. Lass… but none of them completely.

Sighing I continued to walk down the street. The buildings seemed to be made completely out of glass. Humans were so stupid. The smell of food made me turn. Not having the duty to satisfy daily needs was something I envied Dio and the other demons for. I also hated the taste of human food, but no matter how much I tried to avoid it in the end I passed out and was force fed my Arme. That thought always gave me the creeps. However, my growling stomach made me notice I had to get something to eat. No matter what, just something.

I followed the smell and soon ended up in a dead end. I really needed to train those senses again… Things smelled different in the Underworld. After the stinging pain in my stomach, that I always got when I hadn't eaten for a long time, I decided to find something that sold food. At least money shouldn't be a problem.

I found a small shop that sold cake and entered. All that sweet stuff. I hated it so much. But that was probably the easiest way to get something to eat. In the end, it was just to feel normal again. When I opened the glass door I was wondering about how stupid humans had gotten again. This wouldn't even keep a thief away… Or anything else. Those metal boxes seemed like a threat, and if monsters managed to get into the town… Shaking my head I walked up to what seemed to be a counter. This town really must've been rich. All that glass, the lights… devices I hadn't seen before.

"Good morning." A young woman said to me. I just nodded, stared at the cakes and wished for me to wake up if this all was just a dream.

"What day is it?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"It's Monday." She answered.

"The date I meant."

"The 17th of September."

I sighed. "What year?"

"Look mister, if you are trying to play around with me, go find someone else."

"What year?" I asked again, ignoring her.

"2013."

I kept my shock to myself. Six hundred years… there was _no way_ the others would still be around! A shiver raced down my spine.

"Hurry up please, you keep the other costumers waiting."

How I hated impatient people. In the end I just picked something and didn't even look at it. Then when I put some gold coins on the counter the woman just stared, took the money and shooed me away. Greedy people…

She had stuffed the cake-whatever in a bag. It was also made of paper. I knew Kanavan was a rich town… but I'd never seen so much paper before. I sighed and wandered around for a while, trying to ignore the hunger for as long as I could. Human food didn't taste that bad when you are almost starving. Lass once said that _everything_ tasted good when you hadn't had anything to eat in a while. I took it literally. Who knew what he was capable of? He was my half brother after all.

I let my guard down and bumped into something. The bag fell on the ground, someone stepped on it and another person stumbled against me. Assuming it was on purpose I held my eyeteeth at the potential attacker's head. A woman looked up, green eyes staring at me.

"I…I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to… I… I pay for this…"

Only slowly I took my gun away, allowing her to back away. She looked like she was about to cry. Nice try. Arme tried that all the time. It never worked.

"Don't bother." I growled and was about to walk away, but she took my arm. And found my eyeteeth at her head yet again.

"I don't like people like you," I told her. "I don't like people at all."

The woman let go of my arm and ran away. Something was odd about her. But that was not the time to worry about something like this. With whatever I wanted to eat, gone and me not being in the mood of buying anything again I decided to just walk until I found something interesting. While it was quite hard to get my attention for trivial things that would have probably taken some time, until someone grabbed my Arm. In a matter of seconds I was unarmed and stared at two blue eyes. Two _familiar_ blue eyes.

"Asshole." Was the nice greeting of the person that was currently in possession of my guns. He was taller than me, snow white hair, dressed in a light blue shirt and dark pants. That couldn't be true.

"You let your guard down quite a bit, I followed you since that woman tripped."

"Who are you again?" I asked. I knew who he was, but I couldn't believe it.

"Are you stupid?!" The man yelled back. He seemed older. His voice was lower, but his character hadn't changed.

"Do you have any freaking idea how long I waited?!"

"Why are you still alive?" I wanted to know.

He looked hurt for a moment. "Because I'm not as stupid as some other people!"

I sighed. That wasn't the point of my question.

"I'm a half demon after all… And I spent some time in Elyos."

I frowned.

"What kind of business do you have in Elyos?"

"Is that all you have to say to me after so many years?! Do you have any idea how much I missed you?!" The words hurt so much, I was scared to admit it. Of course. He was still younger than me. Just a kid.

"I thought you got killed… I never… thought I'd ever see you again!"

"I'm obviously fine. But… I'm starving."

He just dragged me off. He had gotten stronger, not like me who still fought the same souls. There was no need in getting stronger anymore… and I had my own family to take care of now… even if it only consisted of me and my son…

In the end I found myself sitting in a small building, some kind of food placed in front of me. It looked like … fish? I was more impressed at all the stuff in this room. Paintings on the walls, a couch… a black box in front of the couch… whatever meaning that had. Lass always had a _different_ taste in furniture…

"So?" he said as he sat on the table, waiting for me to start eating. "Why did you come back now?"

I sighed and chose to ignore him. There was nothing to be said. I've always been alone even among all the others.

"Curiosity." I muttered after he just kept staring at me.

"Oooh… You just came back because you **were curious?!**" he yelled at me. What kind of cruel person was I? I left everyone behind… took the little happiness away they had. Lass had been so happy when he realized he was goung to be an uncle. The whole chase was ahppy about it… And I just left when he turned two.. Taking him with me… Lime said she was okay with it… but was she really? She cried and asked me to come back soon… was I too scared to face her? Why did I never feel guilty for that until now?

"There was so much shit happening… You know… there was a war… almost everyone got killed, defending Kanavan… " Lass muttered. He stared on the ground, his head hanging down. Almost everyone. That meant the mage, Ronan… the elves. Everyone he was friends with. And Lime for sure. Another sting and I let go of the fork. She was definitely gone now. What was I supposed to tell him…? His mother died and he didn't even have a picture of her…

"Dio actually saved my life when he just opened a portal and pushed us inside… Elyos is a freaking dark place…"

"Wait a moment... Dio?"

"Maybe he lost too much blood. He acted really weird… But thanks to him I'm still alive…"

I shook my head, attacked my meal with the fork and stared out of the window. What kind of weird stuff must have happened while I was away? And why did I never hear about a war? I was too confused to ask more questions. I talked more in the past hour than I did in all those years and I must have fallen asleep on the couch at some point.


	2. Chapter 2

Something moved beside me and out of a reflex I jumped to my feet, holding my guns at the face of the attacker.

"Hell it's just me! Calm down!" Lass yelled.

Slowly I put the guns away. "I'm going to work. When you go outside take the keys with you and leave the freaking guns here." He told me.

"Why?" My guns? There was no way I'd go outside without protection.

"Because they'll arrest you when they see you running around with weapons! It's not allowed anymore. You should go find a job if you plan to stay longer. I barely have enough money to get food and pay the rent."

I frowned. Was that the reason why Kanavan had gotten so rich? Taking the money from the poor? I put a small bag on the table. My money should be enough for a while. Considering how greedy that woman earlier was…

"What's that?"

"Bounty rewards."

"Are you serious….?" Lass seemed unsure for a second.

"I am in a town that I don't know, I have no idea what happened, and my only way back vanished in thin air. I am dead serious."

"For starters," Lass began, opening his shirt and moved over to a chair to grab a white shirt. He was wearing another shirt under it without buttons. "This is Kanavan, 600 years passed, Magic is useless and you, my friend, are trapped here." He proceeded in buttoning the shirt up, then walked into another room. From there he still talked to me.

"Maybe Dio can help you. You can ask him later. He and Zero wanted to stop by. I have a day off tomorrow, so we had planned on watching movies."

I frowned. Lass… friends with a pervert and an antisocial demon that was even worse than me? And why the hell would they watch a Moo-vie for? Whatever that was. For now I just assumed it was some kind of new monster or animal. It sounded a bit like the sound a cow made.

"Don't you have any questions?" Lass asked me. He walked back into the room drying his hair with a towel.

I sighed and thought for a moment. I had a lot of questions. But would I be able to deal with the answer?

"What happened to her…?" I muttered, already afraid of the answer.

Lass sighed deeply as he put on his shoes. "It was fast. She didn't feel any pain."

He was lying. But I couldn't take the truth, he probably knew it. I watched him as he opened a box in what appeared to be the kitchen.

"I put something to eat here. Just heat it up when you're hungry." Lass explained.

What a quick change in topics…

"So… how's Luca?"

"Happy that daddy's gone?" A smile spread over my face. I was proud of that boy, and everyone should see it.

"How does he look like now?" Lass took something out of a cabinet, then put it on the table in the kitchen.

"You won't be able to tell us apart."

Lass grinned at me then took a key out of his pocket. "I put the key here. I'll be back at nine."

I nodded, then searched for a clock. Lass was already out of the door and I couldn't find anything that looked like a clock.

For a while I sat there, then I got curious. The black box in front of me was drawing my attention now. Blue numbers were displayed below it. And they had changed… 16:29 it showed. The boy itself had a lot of buttons. One of them had the word 'Power' written on it. Power. Was that some kind of Mari's machinery? I chose not to find it out. The stuff of that girl either exploded right away or did so when someone touched them.

After a while I found what seemed to be a bathroom and chose to take a shower. As I only had the clothing I was wearing I borrowed some of. Lass' It still didn't fit me. And he had not a single shirt with short sleeves! I thought about buying something new to wear, but then I remembered what Lass had said about guns. I couldn't take them with me. I never left the building without my eyeteeth. I couldn't remember the last time I did.

Sighing I inspected the food Lass had put on the counter.

"Heat it up. He said… and with?" I muttered to myself.

I couldn't tell what kind of food it was and the smell didn't tell me either. Sighing I choose to wait. The windows in the living room were big and I could see the whole town. Far away I saw something that faintly reminded me of a castle. It looked more like a ruin now though. Slowly I started to regret coming here. It would have been better to believe everything was fine. It wouldn't have hurt that much.

Sighing I sat down next to the big window and stared down at the people rushing buy. As it slowly got dark it started to rain. It was amusing to watch them running away from the rain. Rain never really bothered me.

The door opened and I jumped on my feet. Lass was standing there, went into the bathroom and came back a second later.

"I see you found my clothing… You're still too small." That chuckle made me sigh.

"I'll put your clothing into the washing machine. And- Hey you didn't eat anything!"

I flinched. Of course I was hungry… But…

"Lass. I don't know this timeline. I have no idea what a washing machine is, although the name is pretty obvious… I couldn't see anything to make a fire with and I don't even know where the clocks are."

Lass frowned, then hit his head with his palm. "Sorry… I'm too used to all this. Alright. The washing machine cleans clothing. That," He pointed to another black box with a lot of buttons. "Is a stove. And the clocks are there, up there and down there."

He pointed to the stove. There were glowing numbers. Then pointed to a drawer. More glowing numbers in a small box. And the last were the numbers under the black box I had noticed before.

I sighed. This would be hard getting used to.

"Alright. I'll heat that up now…" Lass went to work without looking at me again. Something was odd about him. He seemed restless. He always was doing something, but he seemed to be too busy to even get a minute of rest.

A little later he put a plate on the table. "What about you?" I asked.

"I already had something." He turned off the stove and rushed into his bedroom. Came back a moment later with small black packages and put them on the table in front of the couch.

"I'll take a walk-"

"Sit down." I ordered.

"Rufus, what-"

"Sit. Down."

Lass complied, although he didn't seem happy about it. His eyes were glistening, his whole body was shaking. And he seemed not only afraid but nervous. Was it my presence? I was staring at him until he looked away. He was hiding something.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Another lie.

"What are you hiding?"

"Rufus, stop it. I have changed. And I take a walk now. I'll be back in a bit."

Before I could say anything he rushed out of the apartment. I sat there, wondering what had happened. I finished whatever food he had made, but I didn't think about it. The taste was awful anyway.

I spend the next twenty minutes with staring at the wall, trying to find a reason why lass acted like this. I couldn't find one. Either the war was worse than I was thinking, or something else had happened.

The door opened again, Lass reappeared. He seemed calmer now. "I'm sorry… It all gets too much and… now you're back… and memories are coming back and… I tried to forget them… but…"

I sighed. "Tell me what happened."

"Zero and Dio will be here in a bit, I have to-"

"Answer me!"

He flinched, then shook his head. "I-I can't."

"I never knew you were a coward."

Lass turned away then sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall.

"You don't know anything. I…-"

A ring prevented him from explaining. He jumped to his feet, obviously glad the whoever interrupted. A minute later Two familiar faces showed up in the living room.

Dio frowned, Then started to laugh. "And we all thought you died." He grinned. What was wrong with him? Why did he suddenly care? And… Did Zero just hug Lass?!

I blinked, not quite getting the situation. Zero looked at me, dark glasses covering his eyes. "It is nice to see you again, Rufus."

At least he still spoke normally.

"I couldn't prepare anything-"

"Ah shut up. Sit down let me do the work." Dio hissed. When he took off his jacket I noticed his left arm was missing. I frowned, then flinched ad a familiar sting suddenly raced through my left arm. The thought of losing a limb was not exactly pleasant. And I already knew how it felt.

"Stop staring at it, it won't come back." Dio grinned. Then returned to the kitchen. He seemed quite used to it. I remembered that it took forever to get used to the fake arm… but imagining me with only one arm? What would I do?

"How did that happen?"

"I can't provide a fancy Dragon-story like you. It was a stupid sword. But that was long ago and it's no use talking about it." New all avoided the war-topic. So there had been something else happening than just everyone getting killed.

And Dio's behavior was creepy. He usually said what he thought, but he seemed to be thinking about a lot of things and didn't voice anything.

"So… why did it take you so long to come back?" Dio muttered silently as if trying to avoid that Lass heard him. I knew Zero would hear us anyway.

"I spent sixteen human years in the underworld-"

"But you came back now… that means… 50 human years are one year in the underworld… Hell. That's twice as much as in Elyos."

I frowned at how fast Dio calculated that. Never thought he was good at mathematics. Maybe Zero taught him something. I watched as Dio prepared food and wondered who was going to eat it. But the question vanished into thin air when Dio picked up a slice of a carrot and ate it.

"What? Those stupid humans don't give off enough energy anymore. And without my rake hand I'm useless when it comes to hunting."

"So you got used to that awful taste?"

"We had no choice."

I nodded, then sighed and sat back on the chair I had been sitting on earlier. I wanted to know what really happened. But I wasn't sure if anyone here was willing to tell me anything. I silently watched them. Lass didn't touch the food and slowly I began so see how thin he was. Was that the reason for him to only wear long shirts like that? To hide it?

"So… what movies did you pick out this times?"

These Moo-vies again. This really seemed like a species of animals. Picking them out… to hunt them?

"Older ones. I found some earlier."

Was that why he went out? Dio pointed with his fork towards me. "What about him, maybe he wants to watch too."

"I don't know what strange hobbies you developed, but I am not interested in watching animals or monsters or whatever Moo-vies are."

Dio looked at me and suddenly burst into laughter. I just opened his mouth when zero began to speak. "A movie is a row of pictures that is shown in a certain timeframe to make it look like the pictures are moving."

"Like flipping fast through a stack of photos. Got it?"

"You're watching people that move?"

Dio sighed deeply. "Just join us, you'll get it then."

I shrugged and stared at Lass again. "Say… why are you suddenly friends with each other?"

Zero surprised me when he suddenly stood and took a plate next to Dio. While he was doing so he looked at me. "Do not speak about it. I will talk to you later." He explained, took the plate and sat down again.

What was that? Some kind of conspiracy?


	3. Chapter 3

After Dinner and that movie Zero and Dio had left. I never knew Zero was the sneaky kind, but he didn't tell me anything about what he wanted to explain. So my only way to answers now was asking Lass directly. He was still cleaning up the kitchen.

"If you promise to stay calm, and don't start to hate me I will tell you what happened…" Lass muttered as he put a plate into a box made of metal.

I frowned at what he was doing, then I nodded. What could have happened that would make me hate him?

"Alright… There was no war… it's actually a made up story… I just… had to tell you something. It was my fault that almost everyone died."

My heart felt like it skipped a beat. What?! I took a step away, hands on my guns. What was he going to tell me? He looked at me, looked at the guns, then resumed in putting plates and everything into the box. He seemed to have expected that reaction.

"I lost control of the flame… I was practicing… and accidentally set a tree on fire… the castle was… the roof caught fire and… there was no way to get rid of it… I tried to save them…" He lowered his head. His tall body seemed so frail…

_Dio ran through the smoke covered corridors, yelling names, he was coughing, trying to block out the heat and the difficulty in breathing. Sieghart was outside, using all his strength to prevent Lass from rushing into the castle again._

_Dio heard someone yelling but he was too late. A wooden pillar had crashed down onto the red headed Rama. Dio turned away from the sight and rushed downstairs. Sieghart and Lass were outside, Rufus not there, and Zero was alarming the town, trying to get people to get water. No more rooms on the third floor to look into._

_The girls had all been sleeping. He rushed into every room, but an explosion in Armes room smashed him into the opposite wall and forced him onto his knees. There was no way to help Mari and Arme now. He crawled to Amy's door and opened it. The girl was lying on the floor not moving. Blood was running from a gash on the back of her head. She was dead as well. Scrambling to his feet he looked into Limes room. The window was smashed but when he looked outside the Knight was obviously dead as well. Dio was shaking his head again. The fire had reached the staircase to the roof by now and was spreading faster. The wooden floor was more than enough food for the flames. The way towards the stairs to the first floor was almost blocked. Dio ran towards the stairs. Noticed Elesis and Rin and the ground. Dead as well. The Elven girl too. Ley was the last person there. Dio didn't care about how much he hated that demon as he burst into the room. Ley was sitting on the ground, covering her mouth and nose with a shirt. Her green eyes glowed in relief when she saw Dio._

_Dio was coughing violently now. He weakly stumbled into the room and picked Ley up, rushing downstairs with her in tow. The fire hadn't reach this floor yet, but the smoke was already visible._

"_Can you walk?", Dio wanted to know._

"…_no…" Her voice was weak and only then Dio noticed that His hands were covered in her blood._

"_Aw shit!" he cursed, stumbled out of the castle and put Ley down next to Sieghart and the struggling Lass. When he wanted to run back into the castle Sieghart held him back._

"_It's no use. Is Ley the only one you found alive?"_

"_There… are still-" a cough prevented him from finishing his sentence. "Still others in there… the fire has not reached the..."_

"_Let me go in!" Sieghart hissed. "I'm immortal you idiot!"_

"_But you're human! You'll pass out and then no one will be saved!" Dio's voice was hoarse._

_Sieghart nodded, and Dio rushed inside again._

_The stairs were on fire now, Ryans door burning down. Dio hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the hot door handle and ripped the door open. Another explosion sent him flying into the burning staircase. He was lying there for a moment, barely holding on to consciousness. He saw Sieghart dashing inside. The immortal was looking around for a second, then rushed towards Dio and pulled him back to his feet, half carrying him. _

_Dio flinched, then forced himself to walk on his own. There were still three people to be saved. Ryan was obviously dead by now. "You take the psycho… I get the crybaby…" Dio almost yelled. His ears were ringing,and he was more stumbling then walking. Sieghart complied and ran towards the door on the right while Dio opened the left. Ronan seemed alive as well._

"_Can you walk? I seriously have no strength left…" Dio muttered._

_The knight looked up, suddenly lunged forward And attacked him with his sword. Dio was caught off guard, too tired and not expecting Ronan to lose his temper like that._

_A earsplitting scream of the demon made Sieghart turn away from the unpleasant sight in front of him. As he dashed towards the room on the opposite side Ronan was stumbling towards him. He wanted to catch the knight as he fell, but the sight of Dio prevented him. The demon was lying his side, face in pain. A crash could be heard from nearby._

"_Dio get the hell up! The whole castle is going to collapse!" Sieghart yelled, but Dio didn't seem to have heard the immortal._

_Sieghart eventually picked the demon up, only then noticed that the right arm of the demon had been cut off. He then realized that this had been the cause for the yell. He broke the window and jumped out, dragging Dio back to Lass and Ley. The female demon was dead. That was obvious at how Lass looked._

I shook my head. Never knew Lass could tell things so lively. So he started a fire… killed the whole chase, with a few exceptions… It was obvious he couldn't control the blue flame… but something like this?

"If you hate me now… I'm okay with it… Sieghart didn't talk to me since then."

"It's not your fault you can't control it… and why the hell did the castle just burn down like that?!"

"It had been a hot summer… there was no rain for months… and it was night… everyone was asleep…"

I closed my eyes for a moment. It wasn't his fault. He actually went through the effort to try and control his flame. But if it had been dry like that… of course there was a big fire. That at least explained why that castle there looked more like a ruin than anything else.

"And why are you hurting yourself?" I wanted to know.

Lass turned pale and took a step away. I knew exactly what he was thinking now. How I found it out. I knew how to read signs. We both did. But I thought he had gotten better at it, not worse.

"You know, it's pretty obvious that you try to avoid food." I told him.

He stared at me with his big blue eyes, then bit his lip and looked down. "I'm terrified that something like this happens again… I burned the circus down… then the castle…"

"But you know that centuries have passed…"

"That doesn't mean anything! When I'm weak it can't burst out!"

I sighed deeply. He obviously had no idea about this power. Not that I knew that much either, I was also only a rookie. The only person able to teach me about it had left me ages ago.

"It can and it will. And the weaker you are the less control you will have." I told him, my voice firm and I took a step towards him.

"It is difficult to control it, I can't completely control it either. There is only one person who could teach us how to, but I know I will kill this man the moment he enters my sight."

Lass blinked, suddenly seeming surprised.

"…our father." He whispered, as if that bastard would jump out of a corner if he said it too loud.

Not really wanting to acknowledge that I just nodded. I spent most of my life without that guy, I could take a lot more years without him.

"We'll never find him…" Lass muttered. I got the feeling that he actually considered my idea. What the hell did I just do?!

"We won't so it's no use searching for him. Let's get back to the topic."

"What if we do? Sieghart knows a lot… maybe he'll talk to you!"

Oh what a child he still was even after all those years.

"I doubt that guy ever knew our father. Despite that, I don't know any other demon of the Underworld around here. Not even other bounty hunters."

Lass sighed deeply. "But..."

"No buts. Dio and Zero were enough company for a while."

"They visited me, not you. And they only do that because they think I'd break down again-"

I looked at him, frowning. What did he mean with that? Lass backed away as if I found out something he wanted to keep a secret. Well. If he tried to hide it I would have found out anyway.

"… A few months ago… I…" Lass bit his lips, then took a step closer to me. He slowly rolled up his sleeves.

My eyes widened when I saw the scars on his wrists. "You tried to kill yourself you idiot?!"

I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. His body was even thinner than I wanted to admit. What the hell was he thinking?!

"The memories got too much… Dio and Zero decided to visit me once a week now…"

"So that's why they pretend to be your friends…."

"They're not pretending! Dio actually grabbed my Arm when he stepped into the portal to Elyos. Hell he lost so much blood… But he never said that he regretted taking me to Elyos… and Zero tried so hard to keep me sane… I feel like I betrayed them when I tried to kill myself…"

I stared into his blue eyes. "You did." Was all I could say. What kind of person did he become?! Those two actually saved someone they never cared about and Lass was thanking them like that. But this was getting to deep now. I felt my emotions inside, ready to burst out. And when they'd do, I wouldn't calm down that fast.

"So… must have been a funny sight… Dio getting used to only one arm." Oh how I hated jokes about that. I knew how hard it was. They actually replaced the missing arm quite fast, but the time to realize that it was actually gone took ages.

"How can _you_ of all people make fun about that…" Lass wanted to know.

"Because I _know_ how hard it is."

Lass seemed to think, then chuckled lightly. "I never knew Dio had a kind heart, you know. He always made us believe he was a hateful and selfish person.. Well.. he was selfish but… He let me stay in _his_ castle!"

I nodded. Dio doing that was a bit disturbing. But who knew what that guy was capable off. Maybe it was a plot to get Lass' trust when he needed it one day.

"It was funny to see him like this.. hell, he made jokes about himself all the time. …But… He was powerless. And after a while they wanted Dio to retire as the clan-leader… and he got kicked out. That was about…twenty years ago… then we ended up here, I got a job… Moved to somewhere else, got another job… fighting off memories… and well. Now I am here."

I sighed deeply. All of that happening… It would have never happened if I had never left. I could have taught him what little I knew about the flame. The fire would have never happened… Lime would still… I bit my lip, suddenly realizing my son still believed his mother was alive. I had no picture of her… only memories…

"Rufus?" Lass whispered, now taking my shoulders.

I blinked the tears away. This was not the right time. "I just… Lime. I can't believe she's… gone…"

"Arme is gone as well… Zero said that Sieghart believes that Elesis, Lire, Arme and Rin will be reborn because of an old legend… But he wasn't sure… He gave Zero a book and Zero gave it to me. I… can get it. Wait a second!"

I frowned and moved over to the couch as Lass stormed into the bedroom. When he came back he had an old brown book in his hands. The paper was yellow and wrinkled, some pages seemed to be loose. There were a lot of notes sticking out. When he opened it a sketch of a girl fell out. Lass slowly picked it up and put it on the table.

"Arme." He muttered. I looked at the sketch, impressed at the art. Whoever did that must have been with them to capture the girl that well.

"Zero said it's the best he could do, but it's good enough to remind me."

I actually gaped. Zero? Drawing? What?!

"You should see his pictures… It's like he's drawing dreams."

"I can't imagine this guy doing anything than slashing around with a sword…."

"The next time he's coming over you should ask him to draw something… he's drawn a lot of scenes for that book… " Lass pointed at the leather cover of the book.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I won't believe that until I see it with my own two eyes, dio acted so weird too, cooking and all the crap."

Lass smiled. "Well… Dio's a chef."

"Wait. What?!" Hell! surprises everywhere. How was Dio even able to do that with an arm missing? And what the hell was Lass doing then?! And Sieghart! What… I couldn't find words.

"What are you then?"

"Nothing special… not doing assassin stuff anymore, if you mean that…"

"Sieghart?"

"… He's… running a bookstore."

At least something normal around here. But… ah right. The lazy bastard. He could sleep all day.

Gaah I'm getting a headache…" I muttered, shaking my head. "This is too much for me…"

Lass sighed and put the book on the table, then flipped through the pages. White paper with sketches where everywhere in there. Landscapes, People, buildings. The castle. Lime…

"Hold on!" I slammed my hands between the pages, keeping Lass from flipping more pages. As if knowing what I had seen he turned a few pages over and took the picture of Lime out. Carefully I took it, biting my lip.

"I really… can't believe Zero can do that."

"I didn't as well… it's just so… weird."

"Exactly…"


	4. Chapter 4

When Lass went to sleep I looked through the book. It was a slightly familiar handwriting. You'd never think that the lazy immortal highlander had a good handwriting, but he did. I faintly remembered that Elesis used to threaten him when he refused to write letters she was supposed to write. However, this book was way more interesting than I had thought. I never really cared about the story of Aernas, but this book told me think I didn't even think about asking.

I found profiles of every chaser, information about them… things I never knew. A lot of text was in there. A lot of drawings as well. I read about Arme, Lire and Elesis… they seemed to be reincarnations of some goddesses. That must've been the reason why Sieghart believed they would be reincarnated. Then there was a fourth goddess… The description reminded me of Rin. Didn't Lime always talk about _her_ goddesses?

I flipped the pages until I found Lime's, but what I read was nothing new. She was not someone special. Just a girl. There was no way she would be reincarnated. But my sadness was gone as fast as it came. The book was too interesting. I wasn't the type for reading when it wasn't needed, but all the information…

The more pages I flipped the more the pictures got. The world-map, a rough sketch of the underworld, The castle of Kanavan's queen, the castle of the chase. There were more pictures about that one. The fire caught in the sketches as if it just happened. I got a good idea why everyone died. The fire spread way too fast. Probably Arme's and Mari's potions and machinery were the cause. Arme kept a good amount of bombs and gunpowder in her room. Sighing I took the pictures out of the book, marking the page with a colored shred of paper.

Curling up into the blanket on the couch I carefully looked through the sketches. A portray or Zero holding a paintbrush, Sieg with his feet on a table and a book on his chest, obviously napping, a sketch of Dio in front of a counter holding a knife… And a man with long hair that I had never seen. Behind that one I found a picture of the gate to Kanavan, the whole city sketched as if I could just walk through it.

I never knew Zero had such a good memory. And the ability to draw that. The best drawing I ever saw where the people drawing the pictures for the bounty hunters. And they weren't exactly… creative. Then I found a picture of me. It was like looking into a mirror. And the eyeteeth… Not even I knew of all the details until I saw them on that paper. I actually had to pull one of them out to compare it. It was impressive. I put the stack of pictures back into the marked place in the book and flipped the page over. A detailed description of the whole fire, with date and time and what happened when, who died where and when and where their graves where. I skimmed it, on focused on Lime's.

_Lime had been found on Wednesday the 15__th__ of August 1414 at 2 am. She obviously jumped out of the window when she noticed the fire. The fence stabbed her and she died of blood-loss. _

_We buried her under the big Oak tree left from the entrance of the castle._

Oh I knew where I was going now. Sighing I stood, put on my shoes and felt embarrassed at the colors. I was wearing a white shirt, dark pants and red shoes… this didn't fit at all.. what would she- It was just a grave… she wouldn't see me. Silently I took the key from the table and sneaked outside.

The night sky was full of stars but the lights in the streets blocked most of the beautiful sight. The castle had been clearly visible from the big window in Lass' apartment, it wasn't hard to find and didn't take too long to reach it. They had put a high fence around the property. A sign was nailed on it, not allowing anyone to enter.

As if that ever held me back. I had to do far dangerous things to get the souls I hunted. It was easy to climb up a tree and jump down on the other side of the fence. The entrance still looked the same. More or less. The three big stones also still lying there. I could almost imagine Dio sitting there, staring into the sky. On the left was the big tree. It had gotten way bigger than it had been. Lime and Arme used to sit under it, reading books, sometimes talking about other stuff. A mix of sorrow and happiness emerged from inside me. Souls could linger for a very long time.

Slowly I approached the tree. Mindful to not step on anything that looked like a stone. Flowers were blooming around the tree, all kinds of shapes and colors. She would have loved that.

"…It's been a long time…" I muttered, crouching down and carefully touched a white rose.

"Until a few hours ago I didn't even believe you died… Funny isn't it? The truth hurts so much more when someone else speaks it…"

I felt tears stinging in my eyes. But no one was here to see me so I didn't bother to hide it. "…Our son is doing well. H-he wanted to see you… If I ever find a way back to the underworld I take him with me. I want to show him how much Kanavan changed… The fire… I'm sorry you felt all the pain… It wouldn't have happened if I wouldn't have left…"

The wind rustling in the grass and trees picked up for a moment. Then long grass touching my cheek for a second as if trying to wipe away the tears.

"Lass told me about it… and he has a book… There are so many pictures in there, and things I never knew! I'd love to show that all to you… did you know Zero was drawing? And Dio's cooking now? I can't believe it… really. How about you? What did you do all the time?"

I muttered, now afraid if it worked. As a bounty hunter of the harrow I had the ability to talk to souls. But most of the time they either ignored me or attacked. It was extremely rare for them to speak to me.

When no soul appeared I sighed deeply. Lime was a nice person. She shouldn't have been executed… her soul was probably reincarnated already… but it hurt. I wanted to see the soft silver light human souls gave off. The light that was cold or warm, bright or calming… wanted to hear her squeaking voice that annoyed the hell out of me the first time she spoke to me…

"…I'll… stop by again. Sleep well." I muttered.

The way back to the fence and the tree was hard. I kept looking back, but nothing had changed. I could force the soul out, but I didn't want to scare her… if she was still there. Maybe she had just forgotten who I was and was too scared.

Slowly I walked back to Lass' place. The sun was already rising when I slumped on the couch. But I couldn't sleep, no matter how tired I was. The warm sun didn't calm me, and not even my brother who was now preparing breakfast.

"Are you awake?" He asked after a while.

Sighing I just stood and chose to help him. "Can you give me Sieghart's address? I looked through the boo-"

Lass suddenly lifted and eyebrow and pulled a twig out of my hair. "You where outside?"

Sighing I nodded, trying to forget about the night. "You read about where she's been buried."

"How did you-"

"You left the book open, it was pretty obvious… but, that book is old. Actually those are just notes sorted by time and date written by Sieghart over the years, and as far as I know the people have put the graves to a real graveyard."

Well. That explained a lot. But why doing that?!

"I never understood the humans here… They kill for fun, throwing words at strangers even Dio doesn't know… And they are obviously moving old Graves to different places…"

"… can you give me his address now?"

".. I just call him. But you talk to him."

Call… like… yelling? Was he that close? Lass pulled out the strange device from earlier and handed it over to me. There where sounds coming out. Monotone and annoying sounds.

"That's a phone, Rufus, nothing to stare it, hold it to your ear!"

I did as I was told, then was surprised at how clear the voice in the device sounded. "This better be a good reason." Sieghart muttered. He seemed angry.

"H-hello?" I almost whispered, not sure if he could hear me or not.

"Who the hell is there?!"

"Now I feel hurt." I muttered sarcastically. He was able to hear me, but couldn't see me. Interesting device.

"Wait… I know that voice… what was your name again?"

"It's Rufus, you douche!" I hissed at the man.

It was silent for a moment. "Oh you're alive. What do you want?"

"Lass showed me a book. I want to know more about it."

"Give me a break! It's six in the morning! Normal people are asleep at that time!"

"What are you so busy with? Sorting perverted books?"

I head Lass chuckle. Seemed like I had been right.

"Alright… alright. Give me two hours I'll be there…."

"One."

"One and a half."

"One and ten minutes. A minute more and I make you suffer."

"Nice to know you haven't changed."

Then the voice was gone.

Exactly one hour and two minutes later the black haired man entered Lass' apartment. He seemed to ignore Lass presence completely when he just walked past him and approached me.

"What a shitty haircut." Was his greeting. Reminding me that I really had to cut my hair.

"Nice to see you too." I hissed back.

"What kind of clothes are those?"

"That's not important. I could also run around like a certain other demon and I wouldn't care."

"Dio doesn't do that anymore."

"Good for him."

Sieghart shrugged and sat on the couch, taking the book. "There are persons that don't like to show their scars."

"Huh?"

"Ah he didn't tell you. Of course he wouldn't." The immortal grinned at me and flipped a few more pages. He took a picture out. It was another rough sketch but it was obvious that this drawing showed Dio. He was sitting on the ground blood everywhere. I was confused.

"Aw, Lass skipped that part, didn't he?" Sieghart muttered, trying to sound disappointed.

"Dio told me to keep quiet about it…" Lass answered.

I had the feeling Sieghart was going to tell it anyway. And he did.

"He didn't just get kicked out. Some guys thought it would have been funny to torture him."

Well that was Asmodians. They weren't as peaceful as Haros. I actually thought that they'd be capable of doing anything.

"They ripped his wings out. He actually is a powerless, useless demon now. Not much different from a human."

Ouch. I didn't possess wings but… ouch.

"Didn't Zero do something?" I wanted to know, suddenly curious.

Sieghart flipped another page. A wall of text greeted me, written in a different handwriting and in diary style. The man pointed to the entry.

"_Tuesday, March 16th 1434. Elyos_

_They captured Dio and locked him in. When I found him they had already finished their cruel act. I do not understand why they would do a crime as cruel as this. It pains me to see him like this. He is sleeping right now, however, the memories will never fade."_

I frowned, that was a weird diary. But that was obviously zero writing it, so it seemed normal again. "I have a lot more books like this at the store. Zero will visit earlier, you can talk to him then."

More waiting. And still no answer. I almost forgot my actual questions.

"What about the magic? The portals!"

Sieghart shrugged. "You can open them anywhere. Just nowhere in Aernas."

I sighed deeply. At least Luca would be able to get here… somehow. But… couldn't the time not just flow backwards for a while?!

"And the reincarnations?"

"Rin is around. I saw her a few months ago. But seemed like she didn't have any memories."

Sighing I shook my head. What was I hoping for anyway?

"Ah stop dwelling, they would be dead now anyway! Let's get drunk tonight!" Sieghart yelled.

I looked at Lass. He shrugged.

"We should invite Zero and Dio… or at least ask them…"

"I do that later. I have to get back to the store or my _girlfriend_ will threaten to kill me."

"Girl-"

"Dufus. I've been around for more than thousand years. There were a lot of women."

"Is there a possibility that she is the reincarnation of Mari?"

Sieghart laughed. "No. I would have noticed. There is always at least one detail about them that always stays the same. Eyecolor, haircolor, weapon of choice, voice, speech pattern, handwriting. Sometimes even the name. That Girl is nothing close to Mari. But she's charming."

The grin sent a shiver down my spine. Now he appeared more than ever like a pervert.

"Did you just call me Dufus?"

"Yeah… Old Siegfart likes to call us names, doesn't he?" Lass played along.

"Ah look, the tomboy has something to say."

"Hey!"

Sieghart burst into laughter. "Alright Kid, wanna come with me now, Zero should be waiting already."

It took a moment but then I nodded. There was nothing much that I could miss anyway.

On the street Sieghart opened one of those metal boxes. It was black and had white seats. It look a bit like a carriage from the inside.

"Get in it won't bite."

"What the hell is that?"

"A car… It's… like a carriage without horses."

Oh so I wasn't so wrong. But I had my problems with horses… and now this? What was I supposed to do?

Before I could think more about it Sieghart dragged me inside the _car_ and told me to shut the door. A second later the box was rolling down the street. It took me a while to realize that it was Sieghart who made it move.

"The next time we walk." I complained.

"Aw… Didn't like the car?"

"Ever wondered why I avoided horses and carriages?"

Sieghart shrugged.

"I get sick." Well now they could know about it. It didn't matter anymore anyway. It seemed like I had no other choice than to get used to be boxes.

The man laughed at me, then waved towards someone. I saw Zero waving back, but he didn't look too enthusiastic. He had a bag with groceries in his other hand and nodded slightly when he greeted us.

"Good morning Sieghart, Rufus."

"Morning." I muttered while Sieghart opened the door of what appeared to be his bookstore.

"The kid is doubting your drawing skills." The immortal grinned. He seemed to have fun.

Zero blushed slightly. "Many do." Was his answer.

"Anyway." Sieghart moved around and put a lot of books on a desk. "Rufus wants to know if it is possible to activate portals."

"It is not. Give it up." Zero immediately answered. I wanted to argue but Zero continued. "Dio and I tried more than just a few times. It is not possible."

So… No Lime, no son… no way home. This actually made me a homeless person now, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**!Warning! **

**Contains A PoV change and boys-love scenes.**

I looked through a book for a while until I noticed that zero was sitting on a chair now, bowed over a sheet of paper. Sieghart was flipping though a book that looked suspiciously like something perverted.

* * *

"Hey Zero, let's visit Dio tonight."

"You know that he dislikes when we show up at his working place." Zero answered, not lifting his head as the pencil was following his fast movements.

"And despite that, you know that I never gave a shit and we're taking Rufus with us."

Did I ever agree? Zero sighed deeply and shoved the paper over to Sieghart.

"You description was really vague." He muttered when Sieghart took the paper.

"Nonsense! That looks perfect!" the immortal exclaimed.

"This is the best I could do."

Sieghart rolled his eyes, then held the picture up for me to look at. Mari's weapon… her 4th job I believe. So it was Sieghart telling Zero what he should draw and Zero who remembered all the details.

"You avoided the question by the way." Sieghart grinned.

Zero sighed. "Alright. But this time you are going to pay."

"Why?!"

"It will prevent you from ordering too much."

As amusing that was, something bugged me about it. Losing an arm was bad enough, but…

"Sorry for asking so directly but… Is Dio alright after all that happened?"

Zero looked at me, then looked down, a shadow clouding his face for a second.

"Please refrain from questions like this."

It had been worth a try. Sighing I looked around once more, not sure what to look at or what to find. Most of the books here seemed old, some were new.

"So… you got used to this world pretty fast, eh?" Sieghart suddenly asked.

I shook my head. "Where are all the monsters, the small shops that sold weapons, armor… the guilds… Who is the queen right now, where exactly are we and … why is there so much paper everywhere…."

Sieghart seemed amused.

"Paper is common now. Everyone has it, everyone uses it. I feel a little sorry for all the trees wasted for all the books here. Especially the bad books." Sieghart pointed to the newer books with a pen.

" The monsters are gone. You're lucky if you find a wild animal these days. Forests are gone, the town actually reaches to the Barrows and the Marsh, covering most of the gorge. Guilds… only for the hunters."

I sat up straight. At least that sounded like something I could deal with.

Sieghart suddenly laughed. "Hell, did you see that Zero, he got that with his ears too!"

Zero sighed and continued Siegharts sentence. "The hunters around here merely hunt for wild animals. The queen is… to say it with Dio's words '_A greedy fucking bitch that makes laws to keep us apart'_"

Zero saying those words… he must be agreeing with Dio to actually voice something like that.

"Her name's Pazel. If you ever see her, run for your life. She hates demons. And Gays." Sieghart muttered.

"I'm used to being hated. And I am not gay." I muttered, but I looked at Zero for a moment. He and Dio probably didn't have it too easy.

I was indifferent about homosexual relationships. If they wanted to, I didn't care. Zero shoved up the sleeve that covered his right arm. A few scars that reminded of bullet wounds were visible. I had them all over my body. But how did he get them?

"She does not only hate, she will attack."

"She uses guns?!" I didn't know many persons that could use guns. And in Aernas… none.

Zero nodded. What happened to this town?!

"Guns like your big one, you know?" Sieghart muttered. Scribbling something on a paper.

"Wait… she uses machine guns to fire at people she dislikes? What kind of person is that?!"

"Hey you also threaten people you hate." The immortal remarked.

"But I don't shoot unless I see my life in danger… I'd like to fight her… machine guns…" A bitter laugh escaped me. No, machine guns where not to shoot people. And usually only the first few shots hit anyway. Unless it was a static construction.

A young woman entered the store. She had blonde hair, green eyes Sieghart waved and grinned. "Good morning. I have some visitors today; you can go straight to work."

"As lazy as ever, Mr. Sieghart." The woman smiled, then disappeared in what appeared to be her office.

"She is late again." Zero remarked, not looking up from the paper.

"But she's the only worker. I can't fire her."

"You can run this store on your own. You sho- Ah wait a moment."

Zero pulled something out of his pocket. The device that Lass had called a phone. Able to reach everyone, anywhere and anytime. It was amazing. He held it away from his ears. Not like Lass. But that was probably because his hearing was way better than everyone else's. I could hear loud noises. Sounded like someone was trying to break a door.

"Dio… Wha- Calm down. I cannot understand you when you speak so fast."

This sounded like trouble. Somehow. I just knew it, and Sieghart seemed to expect the same.

"Now tell me what happened."

I saw Zero turning pale. That was something I had never seen before on him.

"I-I will be there in ten minutes. Just stay where you are."

I wanted to ask what happened but Zero jumped to his feet. "I need your car." Was everything he said.

Sieghart frowned. "What the hell happened?" He asked as he handed Zero the keys to his car.

"You remember last time." Was all Zero said when he took the keys. "Thank you. I bring the car back later."

I watched him leave, noticing he forgot his groceries, but when I wanted to tell him he was gone already. Sieghart sighed deeply and put his chin in his hands… "And they're still living there… I can't believe it."

I frowned.

"Ah right… you have no idea what I'm talking about…" Sieghart muttered.

"Let's look through the old books. I think I wrote something about the portals in one of them."

I had a bad feeling. Not because of the books, but Zero's reaction. This was like something had happened that shouldn't have happened. Sieghart found a book and put it in my hands. Two other followed. They didn't seem to be that different, but they were heavy. While my prosthetic arm was able to hold guns and some light things I had my problems with heavy stuff. If it got too heavy it just let go.

And exactly that was the case now. Sieghart just wanted to put another book on top of the other as I let go of them. He caught the falling books and frowned when I was shaking my left arm.

"Heavy stuff. Doesn't work." I explained.

Sieghart sighed and handed me a small book in a purple leather cover. There where symbols on top, reminding me of the language used in Elyos. Not that I could read it.

When we sat down at the desk again I caught a glimpse of Zeros unfinished drawing. It was nothing I remembered seeing anywhere. Swirls, fish, dragons… floating islands in the sky.

"Ah he didn't finish it…" Sieghart muttered when he opened the purple book and Skimmed a few pages.

* * *

When Zero pulled into the parking lot he could hear yelling. Dio had been sleeping. He was working late last night and when he came home he immediately fell asleep. Zero was barely suppressing his anger when he dashed up the stairs to the 4th floor. Two women were standing in front of Dio and Zero's apartment, one of them slamming her fists on the door, laughing hysterically. The other was trying to pick the lock.

"Excuse me, If I recall correctly this is my apartment." Zero muttered. He had difficulties keeping his voice down. Those two where bugging him and Dio ever since they had moved into this apartment three years ago. It had been winter, they hadn't even noticed Dio's horns then. But they immediately picked on him. That was before they noticed that he had lost one arm, before they knew those two men were actually a couple and before they knew that Zero did not like to use too much words. However, they never stopped. They knew when Zero left the house and about an hour later Dio would call him. Begging him to get those women away before he killed them.

"Aw… pointy ears wants to go hooome~" One of them grinned.

"Remove yourself or I will use force."

"The last time you did you were locked away for two days~"

"Your little bitch seemed to enjoy the time without you. He didn't come out once. Maybe we should try it again~" The other said.

Zero closed his eyes and tried to count to ten. Usually it helped calming down. It didn't work this time. Zero took a step forward and shoved the women aside. But he couldn't open the door fast enough and was shoved away.

Dio was probably sitting on the bed, blanket over his head and trying to block the noise out. Wishing for the noise to stop. Dio was like a time bomb. And if you made him snap nothing would be left. He didn't get angry as fast as he used to, but if it were to happen it was better to run.

"Remove yourself!" Zero could not remember the last time he yelled, but this was enough. He was sick and tired of those people.

The women jumped back in shock and Zero was able to open the door, hurried inside and locked it. The seemed to run away. Good for them. Dio was not sitting in the bedroom but in the living-room, lying on the couch. Under a blanket nevertheless.

"Sorry for calling you again… I don't want to kill them… can't risk losing what we have…" Dio muttered, not moving.

"They will get tired of it… Are you alright?"

Dio removed the blanket from his head, then shook it. "My back hurts… why can't they just let me sleep… The work is hard enough already…"

Zero opened a cabinet and took a small bottle out, then he went into the bathroom and came back with a towel.

"We really should move…"

"To the bed?… ow!"

Zero had removed the blanket from the taller demon and was now massaging the back of his lover, trying the ease the pain at least a bit. The scar covered his lover back and reached up to his shoulder blades. Zero felt cold whenever he saw it, remembering why the scar was there now. His wings were invisible to everyone. Usually he hid them as they where sensitive parts. Zero still didn't know how those demons had forced Dio to show his wings, but he knew that they restrained Dio and used force to rip the bones out the back of the former chieftain.

"That hurts!"

"I know. You should not sleep without clothing anymore."

"Can't take my ugly appearance anymore?"

"Dio you know what I meant. The colder your back gets the worse the pain is. You should know that by now."

Dio sighed deeply. "I just hate… being like this…"

Zero leaned in and kissed the cheek of the taller demon.

"I feel so useless… why did this have to happen! I know I'm not a nice guy but… what did I do to deserve this?!" Dio yelled, pointing to his missing arm, unintentionally bending his back and hissed in pain as he curled into a ball.

"That bad?" Zero wanted to know. He stared at Dio and felt incredibly helpless. Easing the pain was all he could ever do. But it never went away completely.

Dio shouted into a pillow to let his anger out. Zero put a hand in Dio's hair in an attempt to calm him.

"I have to work earlier today… I should get going in an hour…." Dio slowly sat up, trying to avoid moving his back too much.

"An hour? Dio… you are in no condi-"

Dio silenced Zero with a kiss. Zero sighed. "At least let me finish what I started."

"Let's have some fun… please?" Dio begged.

"On the couch?"

"Of course!"

Zero sighed deeply and sat down next to Dio. The taller demon immediately reached for Zeros shirt and removed it. A skill he had learned over the years. His rakehand always ripped everything apart anyway, but when it was gone it had been hard getting used to. Zero laid down and Dio followed. The Seeker knew exactly that there would be no _fun_ happening now. It only took seconds for Dio to bury his face in the pillow as he moved his remaining arm around the shoulders of his lover. Zero gently stroked the hair of the taller demon, holding him tightly.

"If… they wouldn't have killed A-Alfred this would have never happened…" Dio mumbled into the pillow.

Zero sighed. How was he supposed to calm Dio down in less than an hour? Slowly Zero moved his hands down Dio's sides and let them rest on the big scar. The warmth usually helped, but Dio was too upset to relax.

"It would be better for you to take the day off."

"You know I can't…"

"I know."

"Wanna go out with me on Sunday?!" Dio suddenly asked, sitting up with a slightly pained expression. Zero zook his hands off the scar and touched Dio's cheeks.

"These moodswings are unnerving."

Dio laughed. "…Don't blame me for it. So, you want to go?!"

"Absolutely."

The smile lit up the usually sad and depressed looking magenta eyes of the taller demon. That was a rare sight. Most of his smiles now were expressionless or ironic.

* * *

A big thanks to SuperPaperBag :D I would have never found all the mistakes on my own xD


	6. Chapter 6

Okay. Back to Rufus PoV now :D

I hope I didn't confuse you too much ^^"

And by the way… Yes I love Boys love. I said so. I always put up a warning if scenec like that happen AND! It is **ZERO** x Dio NOT the other way round. Meaning: **ZERO** is the **SEME**! The one on top! Got that? Thank you. To anyone else who knows that already, Sorry, but I just HAD to say it. I think I can say something after five months.

The day was over faster than I had thought. The sun was setting, the clocks telling me that it was about nine. No matter how many books I looked into, I couldn't find anything useful about portals. Sieghart then tried to explain how to use the _Internet_ but I didn't understand anything about it. It was frustrating as I usually learned quite fast. However those strange devices had so many keys and buttons… Way to confusing.

He brought me back to Lass' apartment and right now we were on the way to a bar. At least that was how Lass described the "Club".

A staircase leaded towards a basement. Bright colored lights displayed the name of the bar. Zero was waiting already. He was talking to a man standing in front of the door. Lass had been right. It was the right decision to leave the guns at home. That guy would have found them.

"Ah I see what you're talking about." The man seemed to answer Zero.

"So, the usual bunch. Zero, Lass, Sieghart. Who's the newbie?"

"My brother." Lass answered.

The man looked moved closer. His dark skin made him seem like he came from a foreign country, short black hair, a short beard and black clothing.

"I see, I see. Following the big brother around eh?"

"I'm the older one." I muttered, a bit hurt. I knew it wasn't too obvious but still.

The man laughed. "Wouldn't have expected that. Alright guys, get in. I got a table for you right in front of the stage." He opened the double doors and Smoke swirled out of the hall behind it. I followed Lass inside and was a bit shocked. This looked like a tavern. Just bigger and more detailed. A woman in a white colored dress was sitting on a grand piano, singing. And seemingly annoying the hell out of the one playing the piano. I didn't know why but I had to stare at the woman. Her blonde hair was falling loosely over her shoulders, blue eyes staring at the crowd.

"Rufus, don't space out!" Sieghart snapped his fingers in front of my face and wanted me to sit down. The chairs were more comfortable than they seemed, but soon I forgot about that as my eyes moved towards the woman again.

"Ah don't hope for it, she'd never pay attention to average guys like us." Lass muttered.

"That's not it… she reminds me of someone…" I answered without looking away. A waiter wanted to know our order and just because I was so spaced out I ordered what Sieghart did. The man repeated the order but I didn't listen anymore.

The Woman slipped off the piano, her shoes clicking softly on the wooden floor. She took what appeared to be a microphone and spoke into it.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! " The woman greeted, but I couldn't listen to the rest as the waiter just came back and gave drinks to everyone.

So we all had ordered beer? The waiter made me nervous. He was wearing glasses, was small and not exactly nice looking. He looked suspicious. But Lass seemed to know him so I tried to ignore it as good as I could.

"You should cease to stare. Loren is picking out the men that look at her the most."

I looked away. "Picking out?"

"They have to sing with her." A different voice answered.

I looked up. Dio was standing there. He really looked weird with his white clothing. The sleeve where the missing arm should have been was cut off and the hole neatly sewn together.

"Someone just told me you where here. I swear this time you're paying Sieg."

"Shouldn't you be in the kitchen? Fucking demon."

Dio grinned. "I need to talk to you Zero."

Zero stood. He bumped into the table and his half filled glass almost fell. Lass grabbed it, preventing the beer inside to spill over the floor. I watched them leave. Zero was swaying a bit. Drunk already? I took a sip from my drink when Sieghart spoke again.

"Did you see Zero?" Siegahrt laughed.

"Drunk from that?" Lass pointed to the glass.

"Are you sure?"

"Ah I don't care. He usually isn't drinking anyway so what do we know." Sieghart sighed.

A sudden thud made me turn around again. The woman on the stage tripped and fell. I had the urge to help her, but I forced myself to sit still. The woman got up again, limped over to the microphone and sat on the ground in a somehow explicit pose.

She laughed. "Excuse this little incident. I apparently sprained my ankle." She said. The audience appeared to be sad.

"But! I will sing from down here. And now I have a better look on the brunette man that keeps staring at me."

She looked in my direction and I wanted to just get out.

"Come one young man, don't be so shy. Or are you scared?" She laughed.

I notice that Lass frowned. "Get up and go there or they get you."

Slowly I got up, feeling embarrassed already.

"Ha! You can't withstand me. Say, what's your name?" She wanted to know when I sat down on the edge of the stage, as far away from her as possible.

"My name is not important."

"Oooh. I love mysterious persons. I've never seen you in here before. New in town?"

Keeping in mind that everyone in this hall could hear my response I just nodded. It was the truth, but people shouldn't know too much. I silently begged for her to leave me alone.

"Say, can you sing?"

"No."

"Too bad…" She grinned, suddenly moving her arms around me and pulling me closer.

I reached for my guns. Then I remembered I left them at Lass' place. The woman was too close. She could do anything to me and all those people would see it and no one would do something. Her arms were too close. It felt like she was trying to choke me. My heart raced but she interpreted it wrong.

"My my, already aroused are we?"

I desperately tried to find a way to escape. My eyes met Lass'. He must have noticed the panic as he jumped to his feet and rushed over to me.

"Loren… Stop it. He doesn't like this kind of fun."

"Aw Lassy… Why don't you just… sing here with me?"

"I am not working today and you know I don't sing."

The woman finally let go. Leaving me dizzy and shaking for a moment.

"Applause for this brave young man!" she said into the microphone.

I just wanted to go home now. This wasn't what I had planned for the night. Not that I had special plans… but sleeping would have been a nice idea. Lass led me over to the table and I sat down again.

"Hey Kid, you should've enjoyed that! She doesn't just pick any man!" Sieghart told me.

"That woman is creepy!"

"Only on the stage." Zero muttered as he sat down again. His hair was messed up, face flushed. I good a pretty good idea about what Dio and Zero talked. Zero seemed different though. He was playing with a straw, then looked around, took the dark glasses off and stared at me, then he put them back on. He was drunk, no doubt about it.

"Actually she's shy. Clumsy and thick headed. And she hates injustice."

I lifted and eyebrow. "Nice try Sieg."

Sieghart rolled his eyes. "It's true and come on, stop dwelling about your lost love."

"I am not like you. I am not supposed to live forever and I had a quite good life **with** a family. I am sorry for being an idiot and not seeing it until now, but that is no reason to be like that! I'm going home."

I stood, grabbed my jacket and stormed out of the bar.

In front of the door I sat down on the stairs and stared at the night sky. I had no idea how long I was supposed to wait until they would decide to go home. I just knew that I would not find back on my own.

Two hours passed then someone was sitting next to me. The woman of the stage. Loren…

Her blue eyes stared at me. "Sorry about this mess earlier… It's just an act. Don't take it too serious…"

"I don't trust people."

She smiled. "That makes two."

"You seemed pretty comfortable."

She shrugged. "I got used to it…"

I watched as she stretched and noticed a bandage on her right ankle. Then she lowered her head and began pulling the blonde hair off. A wig. Of course! A long ponytail appeared from under the wig. I couldn't see the haircolor because of the nightlight, but this suited her way more than the wig.

"So… What is your name?" She asked again.

"Rufus…" I muttered.

She smiled as if that name was special. It sounded like a dog's name. And considering the person that named me… I probably wasn't more than a dog to him. She took my hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lime."

I blinked, staring at her, not able to move a muscle. Coincidence! Just a stupid coincidence! But… Her eyes… the face.

"Are you okay?"

"J-just…. Surprised. I'm sorry.

"Yeah… not many people are named after fruits…" She giggled. "You look a lot like Lass, are you related?"

"I'm his brother…" I whispered, still not quite realizing what just happened. Either this was a coincidence or I had more luck than I wanted to believe. This was… too much. It hurt. It was her wasn't it? But… wouldn't she have memories of me if it was her? I had to ask Sieghart about the reincarnations again. If I ever found my voice again. Right now I just felt sick.

"You're shaking!" She noticed.

"I'm okay…"

"No you're not. Let's go inside, you can lay down there."

"I'd rather…" But she pulled me to me feet, and the dizziness was too much to fight it. When she dragged me back into the hall I noticed I ran into someone, then everything went dark.

I didn't recognize the room when I woke up. Someone was sitting next to me, staring at me. Lass.

"What… ha-happened." My voice wasn't listening to me.

"You collapsed out of nowhere! I should be the one asking _you_ what happened!"

"… the… the girl… it's Her… Lime…"

Lass rolled his eyes, obviously thinking I was imagining things. I didn't feel too good after I went outside, so that might have been just my imagination… but it was so real.

"Where are we?"

"A room behind the stage."

"How long was I out?"

"About ten minutes… Are you sure you're okay?"

I shrugged and sat up. Only one way to find out. The dizziness went away after a moment, but my body was still shaking. Of course I was shocked… but what if all that wasn't true? What if I just imagined it?

Someone entered the room. It was her. The wig was gone and her light green colored hair made me bite my lip. It was her!

Lass turned around and almost fell of the chair. "Wha- …what the… why? How?!"

I ignored his nonsense, unable to move once again. The woman looked at me, frowned at Lass then got closer. "Thank goodness. I thought you would never wake up again."

"…It's not that easy to k-kill me." The last time I was shaking this much… it was quite a while ago.

"You look awful…" She whispered, reaching for my face and touched my forehead. I flinched away at the unfamiliar touch.

"Don't touch me!" I hissed, louder than I wanted to, but she didn't back away.

"I'm not going to-"

"Leave him… he doesn't understand kindness. He's thinking about the past, unable to forget what he had and it prevents him from starting a new life. He's always been like that Loren. Don't even try to get close to him. You'll get hurt. Because in the end he'll always leave."

Lass Stood, took her hand and rushed out of the room. It was the truth… I couldn't enjoy happiness because I always thought it would go away the moment I did. I was running away from it… spending my life alone when I could have had such a nice time… but why did he tell that to her?

Was that betrayal? Or was he just making fun of me? I jumped to my feet, but the refused to hold my body up and I crashed to the ground. Suddenly I heard laughter in my head.

"_Enjoy the feeling little demon. Enjoy how everyone will fight and in the end you're alone again."_

I knew the voice. But I didn't remember whom it belonged to. But it had left a cold feeling inside my chest. A feeling that made it hard to breathe. I didn't imagine that, right?


	7. Chapter 7

I don't know how I got back to Lass' home. I don't know why I was sitting on the couch, and I had absolutely no idea why I felt like I was going insane. I hadn't slept last night… that might've been the cause.

The sun was rising. I haven't slept for long this night. Nightmares bothered me, I dreamt of things I thought I had forgotten… Now I got reminded that they still existed.

"_Enjoy it little demon. You will be alone in the end. It's better for everyone."_

A sting in my left arm… I flinched, making Lass look at me. "Look…" He started, moving closer to me. I didn't bother to look up from the carpet. "Sorry for saying those things… I just couldn't believe you. She does look like her… but that is probably just coincidence. "

I nodded, silently accepting the apology. "Lass… do you hear voices sometimes?" I muttered.

Lass sat down on the Armchair on the right. He sighed. "Sometimes… do you?"

I was fighting with myself. When I told him, he might understand it. But if not he'd think I'm insane. But there was nothing to lose, right? I was alone. I've always been…

"S-sometimes…" I whispered.

"As long as it isn't Kaze'aze speaking to you, you should be fine." Lass smiled. He seemed worried for some reason.

"It's someone I know, but can't remember… The voice seems familiar."

I looked up to see my brother shrug. I told him about the failed search for the portals. Told him that I was almost certain that I'd never see my son again. And I felt so bad for it.

"I'm no better than our father…" I muttered. Feeling awful for admitting this. I just wanted to visit… told Luca I'll be back in a few days…

'_Alright daddy.'_ He had said. His grin was telling me that I should get going already. He wanted me to leave… but what would he do when I wouldn't come back? There was no way to get to him, no matter how much I wanted to. I felt so useless.

"This makes me think…" Lass muttered. "Isn't it possible that our father encountered the same problem? That he couldn't find a portal?"

"Forget it. There were at least two portals that always worked. I used one of them when I got here. It closed after I entered this dimension."

Lass sighed. I got the feeling that he tried to convince me that our father wasn't a bad person. But I knew better. That guy was selfish, and enjoyed solitude as much as I did. He just left without telling anyone. I wasn't like that.

"Couldn't it be that the one in Hell Bridge is still open?"

I looked up. "It could be…."

"Then let's go there."

"This takes a while…"

"Not with a car."

"What about the ocean?"

Lass laughed. "We just use a ferry."

I frowned. Now what was that again?

"It can transport cars over the ocean. It's a ship actually…"

I sighed deeply. Somehow I was afraid of the answer. What if the portal in Hell bridge ws gone too?

"Does Hell Bridge still exist?"

"I haven't been there in forever." Lass muttered. He then pulled out his phone and a second later he put it on the table. Suddenly he seemed annoyed.

"Dio's coming over…"

"Alone?"

"What do I know..."

I shook my head, then got up. "I'll borrow your clothing again." If Dio was about to show up here, I could use the time taking a shower to not talk to him. I still didn't really understand why he was friends with Lass… this seemed like a forced friendship.

While I was showering I thought about the portal again. There was hope rising. There was a possibility to go back to the underworld. And I could take them with me… They would live a happier life than here. Why was I thinking about things like that? There where the reincarnations… maybe they had memories of what happened…. Maybe they could remember…

"_Little demon… You'll never find happiness."_

The water suddenly got cold, making it hard to breath, but I couldn't move.

"_Who are you…"_ I tried to ask. I wasn't used to talk to myself, much less talking to voices in my head!

"_Finally. Rufus, why did I have to say all this to make you hear me?"_

Alright. Now I was creeped out.

"_Who are you!" _ I slammed my fists at the tiled wall. What kind of trick was that?!

"_I don't expect you to remember me. Just listen. You are in danger."_

"_Tell me your freaking name!"_

What kind of danger? And… who was that guy? Why did I trust him immediately?! Was that another trick?!

"_Shh. I can't tell you my name. But you have to be careful."_

"_Why are you telling me this?"_

"_You are an important demon to me."_

"_Why?!"_

"_Shh. I have to leave now."_

I was staring at the white tiles. What was that? The voice seemed so familiar…

"Rufus are you still alive?" Lass asked outside the door.

"O-Of course." I hissed at him.

"Don't leave a mess." He laughed.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?!" I yelled at him when I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.

"Spending an hour under the shower is enough time to get suspicious."

One hour…. But how? I haven't been talking to that person for that long? And.. what was all the fuss about… why did this person care about me? There was no one caring about me that could use telepathy… I sighed and dried myself, then put the clothing on.

When I opened the door Dio was already on the couch, obviously sleeping.

"Doesn't he have his own couch?"

Lass laughed. "They have some kind of a stalker problem."

I put my hand on my forehead. Stalkers? Really?

"Those two?" It was hard to believe.

Lass shrugged, put a teacup on the coffee table in the living room and looked at Dio for a moment.

"_Look out little demon… Lass is about to lose control. It's dangerous."_

That voice again. Control of what? His temper? Oh I was used to that.

"Where are you going?" I wanted to know.

Lass put on his shoes and took a jacket. "Getting groceries…"

"_Don't follow him!"_

The voice said don't. But why should I trust someone that didn't even tell me his name? And what was wrong in going shopping with my brother?

"I'm coming with you."

Lass face lit up. He seemed relieved for a second. I put on my shoes, watched him taking the keys. His hands were shaking. I frowned, but didn't say anything. The sun was shining bright, hurting my eyes. I always hated intensive light. The morning was warm, the air smelled better than the other days. Maybe I just got used to the smell. Lass was walking beside me. There weren't many people out right now. Suddenly Lass stumbled, but regained his balance right away. I frowned.

"I… don't feel well…" He muttered and stopped walking.

"Let's go back then…" I answered. He shook his head and walked into and alley. I followed him.

"_Don't!"_

Lass turned to look at me, then he suddenly was covered in blue flames. I took a step back. Lass yelled, begged for me to run away. But I couldn't move.

"Calm down!" I yelled back, right now the only thing I could do.

"It's okay. They can't harm me!" I wasn't too sure about that, but we were related. Although not completely.

"Run!" He yelled again.

"No." I watched as the wooden fence behind him suddenly caught fire, then the paper in the alley. Slowly the flames made their way to me, but I didn't move. I wasn't sure if I just stood there because I was shocked or because I didn't want to move. Lass stumbled backwards. Yelling at me again, it sounded like he was crying. He was scared!

I took the few steps towards him. My own flame reacted to his power, but I didn't let mine burst out. I was too exhausted to control it. My shirt caught fire, burning the skin under it.

"Calm down Lass." I said. Trying to sound as calm as I could, despite the pain. "It's alright. Nothing will happen."

The flames seemed to retreat, then I suddenly felt my whole body on fire. The pain was too sudden to prepare for it. I heard my own scream echoing in the streets, hating myself for doing so. Lass cried out, then it was quiet. The burning gone. I saw my brother slipping from my grip, but didn't feel anything. My sight grew dim and I was swallowed by darkness.

"_Ignore the pain, little demon. Stay awake."_

The voice in my head. I couldn't move. My body felt numb and it was probably better that it did. Who knew what kind of injuries I had gotten… I couldn't open my eyes, the light was too bright. Was there still fire? Panic struck me, was I still burning?!

"Don't move." I heard a voice. It was a male person.

Someone touched my hair. "Do you have your guns anywhere close?" The voice asked.

Why was he asking this? Why did he know about my guns? I shook my head, too weak to open my mouth.

"Good… I take you to a hospital."

I felt two hands lifting me, was surprised that this didn't' scare me. Slowly I managed to open my eyes. Everything was blurry. I saw a blurry face… but that was all I could see. Giving up I closed my eyes again.

"Rufus, don't fall asleep." Who was this person? Why did he know my name?

"I…. I-I'm not… sleeping." My voice slurred even when I tried to prevent it.

"Alright."

"L-lass…" What happened to him? I wanted to ask so much, but my voice didn't react.

"He is alright… unconscious but alright."

"D-don't leave…. him." It was so hard to speak. "I…I'm not important…"

What exactly had happened anyway? The flame attacked me… shouldn't my flame have countered it? If it did I probably hurt Lass.

"What the hell are you saying?!" The man yelled. Why was he so upset?

"Lass… where is… Lass…?" I said different things I wanted to say. I couldn't think properly.

"Don't worry about him. He'll be okay."

I nodded, was trusting this man for some reason… I had to figure out why.

The man walked back to the street, put me into a car. I was too weak to argue, could barely keep my eyes open to see what he was doing. He left and came back with Lass a moment later. After he had sat Lass into the seat he sat down and drove off. Lass seemed unharmed. The flames never hurt their owner… but they could kill them nevertheless. I reached out for Lass hand, it was warm. Moved when I touched it. He was alive. I focused on the man in front of me, but I lost consciousness before I could think about him.

A brown haired woman with blue eyes was looking at me when I managed to open my eyes again. She didn't talk to me. The room was white, no one else here except me and that woman. Where was Lass?! I sat up, something hold me back. Panicking I looked around, noticed machinery around me, some of them making weird noises and there where all kinds of cords sticking to me. What was this?!

"Please calm down Mr. Wilde." The woman said. I froze. Why did she know my name?

"You're in a hospital, don't worry, you will be fine."

That creepy place where people never came back? Suddenly I wished for the infirmary in the castle… It wasn't a place I really liked, but at least there where people I knew. People that I could trust in their abilities. They never failed to heal, always tried everything to save someone.

"Where's my brother?!" I hissed at her. My voice was back to normal, and the pain was gone too. How long had I been sleeping?!

"Mr. Isolet is alright." I sighed deeply. Lass would've told them my name, right?

Someone knocked, and the woman ordered the person to enter. I wonder why she did that, but my thought was cut off as the man entered. Wavy brown hair, blue eyes, pointed ears… a beard… and a worried frown on his face. He was wearing a blue shirt, dark pants and shoes, one silver gun at each side. Slowly I began to realize that I knew this guy, but my mind refused to tell me his name or where I knew him from. He was obviously a bounty hunter… but what else? Was I still too tired to think, or did I really forget it?

"Who are you…?"

The man lifted his eyebrows. "You're joking… Hating me so bad, but not remembering my face? I'm disturbed." He said as he came closer and sat down on a chair.

"You're lucky I was around… Didn't expect you to be this close."

I frowned as he took my left arm, traced the blue lines on it with a finger. What was he doing?! Why was he touching me and why didn't the woman say anything?!

"That's good work." He muttered.

I ripped my arm out of his grip and glared at him. Why was he knowing about this?! I hadn't told many persons about the dragon… how did he?

"Calm down… I'm not going to hurt you." He muttered.

I wasn't too sure about that. "Tell me your name already!" I yelled.

The man sighed and put a hand on my head, ruffling my hair. Then he suddenly stood and moved his arms around me. How I hated when strangers hugged me. He smelled of smoke and gunpowder… and women. But I knew this smell. It was so familiar that it hurt.

"Legis Wilde." He whispered, hugging me tighter as if trying to prevent that I attacked him.

I wanted to… I was sure I hated this man enough to kill him with my own hands, but… in that moment all the hate was gone. I didn't know what to feel. Hate was all I ever felt for this man. Hate and disappointment. Desperation… sadness.

"I made a lot of mistakes…" He muttered.

I felt like something hit me. What was he doing here? Why was he standing there, why the hell was he hugging me?! I broke free of his grip and glared at him.

"What do you want from me?!" I yelled as I punched his face.

He didn't react to the punch. "I wanted to warn you. But you didn't listen… I had to follow you to save you."

"Then what use am I to you?"

"Is it wrong for a father to save his son?"

"You're not my father!" I barked. What the hell was this guy thinking?!

"Were where you when the dragon almost killed me?! I can manage perfectly on my own! I never needed help of anyone!"

The fact that he didn't even seem hurt by those words made me rage even more. Why was he like this?! He left me alone for centuries and now expected me to crawl back to him?!

I noticed him staring at my left arm. "After Lass was born I was determined to find you. But you were like invisible. The telepathy didn't work until yesterday… You blocked me out quite well."

"That's what I do with people I hate! You can expect me to act like nothing happened!"

All the yelling made my throat hurt. But I couldn't help it.

"Rufus! Calm down!" the man yelled, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

"You can't just come back like this…" I muttered, lowering my head as tears filled my eyes. How pathetic. Crying in front of the man that I hated this much.

"You can't just… ruin my life again…"

It was quiet for some time. I tried my best to blink the tears away, but they fell. The man stood, then left the room, slowly closed the door. He was gone? I was too exhausted to say anything, too tired to fight, or yell.

Even though the pain was gone, I felt incredibly tired all of sudden.

* * *

Alright. You didn't expect that, huh? :D

Surpriiiise. I'm already embarrassed. Don't say anything... lalalala.

Yes. This will be a longer story. Too many ideas, too many things… I can't help it.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke with a nightmare. The sun was shining brightly into my face and I was feeling like I hadn't slept at all. Trying to block the light out I turned my head and looked in two purple eyes. I didn't know too many people with purple eyes, but what was that going to explain?

"Rufus…?" The woman next to me asked. I wondered why she suddenly used my first name. Why was my brain working so slow?!

The woman smiled. "My if you don't even remember _the mage_, what shall we do with you?" She reached out her hand and let a red flame dance around it. Magic?

"A-Arme?"

She woman jumped up and down as she grinned at me. "Uh huh!"

I didn't know why but I felt awfully relieved. I liked Arme more or less. Sometimes she was freaking annoying but… She was there! She remembered! And she was able to use magic! how did she survive? Or was that a reincarnation? Why was her hair a different color? A wig?

"How?"

She sat back down and seemed to think.

"I… was reborn? Well you could say it like that… Never thought I'd meet any of you guys again…"

"How do you know…?"

"I had the memories all my life… I guess… that's useful, right?"

I nodded, totally dumbfounded. Another coincidence? Then why didn't Lime remember anything?! She sat on the bed, carefully hugged me.

"Let me heal you, then we get you out of here."

"Where's Lass?" I wanted to know, flinching as she touched the burned skin and began to heal it.

"He's outside in the hall, waiting for you. He was too tired to recognize me I think…"

She looked on the ground for a second, then her smile came back.

"Your father is waiting too. He seemed so upset… I have no real father… but what you said to him seemed to hurt him…"

My father? So that wasn't just my imagination? I didn't dream? I tried to remember what he told me. He seemed to have watched me for a long time. And I didn't even notice… Was he really trying to reach me for so many years? If it was true he must've been determined to talk to me… was it just to warn me? Did he really care about what happened to me? Arme didn't seem to know him. And as far as I knew, my father wasn't a social person. But what could have changed in all those years?

Arme sighed, then retreated, obviously finished in healing me. Her powers seemed to have gotten stronger. But was this all just a stupid coincidence? This seemed to good to be true!

"Why are you here?" I asked her.

Arme glared at me for a moment. "Hey, I'm working here! It's a freaking coincidence I ran into one of you!"

"Given the circumstances it was only a matter of time until we met..." I muttered.

I wasn't exactly the most careful person when I fought, and even though there were no monsters around, I knew that I'd manage to hurt myself sooner or later. Arme smiled, but her smile was faked. It showed sadness and I saw tears in her eyes. Then she suddenly lunged at me and hugged me tightly.

"I-I was so surprised when that man brought you here… I thought he was you, but then… and he brought Lass too… Lass was so spaced out… He said that he started a fire… Rufus… is he still blaming himself for what happened in the castle?"

Arme knew? How? I thought her room exploded, how did she know that it was Lass who started the fire? As if reading my thoughts she answered.

"You know… the trees behind the castle? I saw him training…. Sometimes I joined him, but I was too tired at that day… when I woke up and saw everything burning I knew that it was his fault… but I can't be angry… The explosion knocked me out… I guess… that was the best way…"

Not knowing what to say I just nodded. I wanted to get out of here, and get my clothing back. One after the other of course. Someone entered the room without knocking, someone I didn't know. It was a woman as well.

"I healed him already." Arme explained as she let go of me.

"Perfect." The other woman grinned. "Then Mr. Wilde, you can go home."

"Everythign taken care of?" Arme asked. I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Yup. The man outside said both of them are his sons, so everything is alright."

A shiver raced down my spine. What would I do, now that I could think clearly again? The other woman left and Arme opened a closet, handing clothing over. It wasn't mine, nor Lass' and it seemed to be way to big.

"The man said… that your clothing got burned and brought this." Arme muttered as she eyes the size, and then me. I wasn't that small but compared to this I was.

"I assume that is his clothing?" I wanted to know.

Arme just shrugged and turned her back towards me so I could dress. I noticed all the machinery was quiet and the cords gone. I had to ask her later what that had been about.

After I was done I stood. My legs where shaking. And I had to grab the chair to hold myself up.

"Careful." Arme muttered. "My powers are faster than back then… they drain more strength… that's why I couldn't heal you when you were unconscious."

Nice. Now I had to rely on someone to get home? I knew I could manage on my own, but that would have taken a while, and on top of that, I had no idea where exactly I was. I took a shaky step towards the door, trying to avoid grabbing anything for support. I had to manage on my own! I've lived through worse things! Just when I was about to fall Arme took my arm.

"You'll hurt yourself. Sit down."

"I can still-"

Arme glared at me. It was the kind of glare that allowed to arguing. And I knew it was better not to argue with her. She pulled the chair to me and forced me to sit down, then she opened the door. I saw Lass leaning against the tall man that was obviously my father. My brother seemed to be asleep. Did he even know who was sitting next to him?! How did he dare to sleep next to that monster!

My father lifted his head when Arme approached him. Then he stood and walked over to me. Without a warning he picked me up, making me panic. I hated being carried!

"Let me down !" I yelled.

"I'm not going to harm you." He muttered.

"I don't care, let me down!" My heart was racing. He must have noticed my panic as he sat me down next to Lass.

"Listen. I know you don't trust me, but I promise I will not hurt you. Did I ever hurt you?"

What kind of question was that? "Not physically." I muttered, still glaring into the blue eyes.

He seemed sad, desperate. "I take you two home." He muttered as if giving up.

Nudging Lass he stood. Lass opened his eyes, frowned at the man, then stood. He then reached out a hand to me but I refused and got up myself. But as much as I wanted to prevent it, my legs were still shaking, making it incredibly hard to follow the man as he slowly walked away. Why did I follow him anyway? I stumbled, but before I fell I felt two strong hands taking my arms. I looked down, noticed a silver flash. The guns! They were so close! It took less than a second for me to get one of them. Another second passed and I saw the other gun pointed at my head.

He was as fast as I was… Was he going to shoot me? He was still holding me with one arm.

"Put the gun down." He ordered.

"No. I can't trust you."

He put his own gun away and grabbed the barrel of the one I was holding. He set it on his chest and waited. My finger was moving to the trigger. When was the last time I thought so long about shooting?

"It's your choice." He told me.

My hand started to shake. I was so close to get what I always wanted, but I couldn't pull the trigger. The gun slipped and clattered to the ground. Why? Why couldn't I do it?! He smiled and put his free hand on my hair.

"So, I can trust you. That is a start." He told me. I gaped. He trusted me even if I could've killed him?!

He lifted me again, this time carrying me over his shoulder, then I he put the gun back in my hands.

"I know you feel safer with a gun." He muttered.

I was too surprised to say anything. Lass was following us, staring at me with an apology written in his eyes. Of course he was blaming himself. Where did Arme go by the way? I looked around, spotted her talking to someone.

"Wait. I have to-"

I didn't have to finish my sentence. My father put me down, but not moving away. I didn't care fo the time being.

"Arme!" I yelled over to the woman. Lass head perked up and he was looking around. That was a reaction I had hoped for.

She stormed over to us, not saying anything as she jumped into Lass' arms. I guess there were no words needed. They kissed. Sighing deeply I turned away.

"Are you jealous?" My father asked.

"Maybe… "

"You'll find love someday-"

"What do you know?!" I yelled at him, making the people here looking at me.

He sighed. I knew I was overreacting, but…

"I'm no better than you…" I whispered. Admitting it in front of him hurt more than I expected.

I ignored his surprised face as I slowly walked past him. Arme shouldn't have used that much power. Right now all I wanted was to run away and hide.

"Rufus, wait."

I heard him, but I didn't dare to turn around. What use was it? My wife not remembering me… I knew I wouldn't have the strength to face her again. I didn't want to scare her… but what hurt the most was that my son had no idea that I couldn't come back. I was so scared he would end up hating me.

"Wait." My father muttered. Of course he caught up to me. I think he would have kept up even when I was running at full speed.

"Tell me what happened."

"Why do you care? Did you ever feel guilty for leaving me?" I stopped walking, playing with the gun in my hand.

"Yes." Was all he said. I wasn't satisfied with that answer, but that was all I could get out of him.

Sighing again I thought about telling him what happened. What was there to lose?

"…I wanted to visit Aernas… But now my way back is gone and-"

The man was looking at me with a sad smile. I felt so childish. Why was I telling him this nonsense?

"There is no way back. The portals are all closed…"

I felt like the ground suddenly disappeared. Until now I had a faint shred of hope… My knees hit the ground, but the pain did nothing. I didn't even feel it. My worst nightmare just became reality. Why…? That was all I wanted all the time… getting back to Luca… Luca hadn't done anything wrong!

"Let's get you home." My father muttered, taking my hand and pulling me back to my feet.

Lass joined us a second later, holding on to Arme as if she would vanish if he let go. At least one of us was happy.

The time until we reached Lass' apartment was spent in silence. Arme was following us. When Lass opened the door a pleasant smell greeted us. Right. Dio was still here.

"I'm sorry, I was hungry and-"

"Down!" I yelled, the next second a shot rand across the room. My father had pointed his gun at Dio, the bullet hit his shoulder. The knife fell down and clattered on the ground, Dio was now staring at my father.

"You bastard!" The asmodian yelled. A second later Dio was standing there with a scythe, about to charge at my father.

"Enough!" Arme shouted as she stepped between those two. "What in Samsara's name is going on here?!"

She glared at both of them, fireballs in her hands.

"Ey, _he_ shot me! Who are you anyway, shorty?" Dio hissed. The scythe was trembling in his hand. It seemed like he needed a lot of effort to hold it. The shot must have been poisoned. I rushed into the bedroom to get my bag. Searching for it, I heard them talking.

"Later Dio." Arme muttered.

"You can't just shoot people! How old are you!?" She scolded.

"That demon was banned of Elyos. I was assigned to find and kill him for his crimes."

"What crime? That I lost my arm? That they ripped my wings out? That they wanted to kill me for loving a clanless demon? That I saved Lass?!" Dio hissed.

"That is not what they told me."

"Because you know that asmodians always speak the truth." Dio said sarcastically.

"Prove that you're innocent."

"Stop it!" Lass yelled.

"Let me call someone and you get your proof." Dio growled just as I came back, having found what I was searching for.

The scythe fell out of his hand as he stumbled, trying to regain his balance. "What is this?" he whispered, seemed panicked.

"Sit down, don't move." I ordered. Dio complied. His whole body was trembling now.

"What bullet was it?" I asked my father

"You don't have-"

"Tell me for fucks sake!" I shouted, making Dio flinch. It had been poison. Of course. Why make it easy.

My father crouched down next to me, watching as I inspected the wound. Dio was glaring at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.. trying to save a demon that I didn't really care about.

"Lass… call Zero. Tell him what happened." I muttered.

My father took the small bag I had brought and took out two pills. I frowned. What was he doing?

"Get your hands out of my stuff!" I hissed.

"Do you want to save that demon?"

Of course! He had done nothing wrong! I looked at Dio. He still seemed panicked. I understood it somehow. Being poisoned was not funny.

"His boyfriend is going to be here in ten minutes. You shouldn't make that guy angry." Lass hissed.

Indeed. Zero was no fun when he got angry. He wouldn't yell, but he had other methods to make his point clear. My father sighed deeply, ordered Dio to swallow the pills. Of course he refused.

"That's a combination of two antidotes." I explained.

"The after effects aren't nice though." I knew my stuff.

"Screw it." Dio grabbed the pills and swallowed them, glaring at my father. "Now tell me what kind of poison that was." He demanded.

I backed away a bit, not liking to be this close to Dio.

"It would have paralyzed your body to the point of suffocating."

"That's cruel…"

"You don't deserve mercy."

Dio turned away, my father stood and moved over to the couch. A second later Arme sat down next to Dio and I retreated. I watched them.

"Dio… what happened to your Arm?" she wanted to know.

"A panicked knight happened." He looked up, suddenly realizing who she was. "Arme… how?"

She shrugged, but his reaction was different from what I expected. He ruffled her hair.

"I… was trying to save you in the fire… but the explosion…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm back." She grinned, kissed his forehead, then removed the bullet from his shoulder and healed the wound.

This was almost like back then… sure, not everyone was there, the time was different, and I really wanted to have two certain persons with me, but for now this was okay. Except for the fact that I really wanted to punch my father right now. What was he thinking? He was ruthless… I wasn't. I always thought before I shot unless there was no other choice… and Dio hadn't done anything.

**Bleh… I have planned an end by now… but it will take a while to get there. :3 I still don't know how I got so much inspiration in just 6 days!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy New year guys ^-^**

**I changed a lot in this chapter. I'm not sure if there are any plotholes in there. If you find one, please tell me. I'll fix it right away.**

The second Zero entered Lass' apartment it got quiet. Zero looked around, rushed over to Dio who was still sitting on the ground. I noticed he had his sword with him. SO he still had that annoying thing.

"Now what the hell happened here?" I heard another voice ask. Sieghart entered.

"That guy there shot Dio!" Arme exclaimed pointing to my father. He was sitting on the couch, his feet on the glass table and didn't seem impressed at all. Was he always so confident? Sieghart seemed angry now.

"Why shoot him? Doesn't he have enough problems?!" the immortal yelled.

I was confused once more. Sieghart getting protective? Over Dio?! The immortal glared at my father, then noticed Arme. He wasn't as slow as I had been.

"Shortcake!" Sieghart grinned, suddenly seeming happy.

"Quiet!" she ordered. That was one main rule. Never make Arme upset. She could be really sadistic.

"This man tried to kill Dio, Rufus held him back, I healed the wound. Now solve this!" She seemed angry. Lass took her shoulders to calm her down. Zero stood, looked at my father. Slowly he approached him.

Zero pointed his sword at him. He still had it, but I noticed that the usually creepy green eye was dark, as if there was nothing inside it anymore.

"Why did you do this?" His voice calm and silent, but I wasn't too sure if this wasn't fake.

"Like I said, this demon there was banned of Elyos. I was sent out to kill him. What's the big deal, it's just a stupid demon."

Zero took a deep breath. He seemed to have trouble remaining calm.

"This demon is my mate. And I will not tolerate anyone harming him!"

He didn't yell. His voice became more quiet until it was barely a whisper. It sounded like the wind in the trees and sent a shiver down my spine.

"How about I kill you in exchange then, for associating with a criminal?" My father said.

"Don't kill him!" Lass yelled.

Zero didn't move a hair. My father just grinned at him, still sitting on the couch, unable to reach his guns like this. Mine where in the counter, just a few steps away, but would I point the weapon at Zero? I knew Zero was full of control. He wouldn't do anything rash. Would it bother me to see my father die? The answer was so simple. Of course. I hated this man, but there was still a tiny part of me that admired him, despite everything he did to me.

Zero slowly took a step backwards, leaving enough space for my father to draw his guns. And he did. A shot rang across the room, Zero ducked away. The bullet hit the counter just a hair away from Dio.

"Hey!" Dio yelled.

My father didn't seem to care. He charged at Zero, shoting again. He missed the second time, but this time was too close for my taste. Zero had jumped to the left and was now standing beside me. I watched my father taking a step towards Zero.

"Don't shoot you fucking bastard!" Dio shouted.

He was scrambling back to his feet, obviously wanting to interfere. Two shots followed. One hit the window behind me and Zero, the next bathed my world in liquid fire. Why the hell did he hit me?! I stumbled backwards, not able to hold my balance. Something clattered on the ground, then I felt arms around me. Everything just a blur. This wasn't the first time I got shot, but … why did my father…?

"Rufus!" I heard someone yell.

"Holy shit! Why the hell did you-" That was Arme.

"He stepped into my firing line!"

Someone was shaking me. "Rufus talk to me!"

I couldn't say anything. Breathing was hard and painful. I wondered why I had done to get hurt twice in one day. And now by him? Did I really move? Unintentionally saving Zero? What did you know.

I must've lost consciousness. When I woke up I was on the couch, a blanket over me, but I still felt cold. Lass was sitting next to me, his head on the edge of the couch, too far away from my hands to touch his hair and he seemed to be asleep anyway. A woman walked over to the couch, placed a glass filled with water on the table.

"Ah you're awake!" Lime? What was she doing here? No. This wasn't the Lime I knew. This was the one that didn't remember. The one of the bar…

"I heard shots so I came up here to see what happened… That was quite a mess!"

"Bullets always leave a mess…" I muttered. The pain was gone, but I felt like a rock hit me.

"I got really scared…" She crouched down, looked at my face.

"Where are the others?" I wanted to know.

"Zero and Dio are discussing this situation with that other man. Sieghart, Lass and I kept watch."

"Arme…?"

"Outside. She should be back soon."

"Why?"

"She's getting painkillers. She said she couldn't heal you. Whatever that means. But she tried what she could I guess."

I sighed deeply. Lime was so close, but she didn't remember me… Would I have the strength to start again? To make her love me again? But what use was it when she wouldn't remember…

"I was so scared… you looked like you were dead!"

I noticed she was shaking. "Where did the bulled hit me?"

She lifted the blanket and placed her cool fingers on my chest. She traced something, then stopped.

"Well… there is the bandage… I assume the bullet didn't hit your heart, but it looks like it was quite close…"

"I've had worse…"

"Really?"

I nodded, turned my head towards her as she put the blanket back down.

"What was the worst you had?"

I thought for a while. "A sword in my lungs, a dragon biting my arm off… that's the worst I remember right now…"

The girl frowned. "A dragon? Are you still sleeping?"

I sighed and lifted my left arm. The white shirt was bloodstained. Didn't even bother to change it, eh? The sleeve slid down a bit, revealing the blue line. It glowed in the dim light. We had this conversation before… centuries ago. At that time she knew dragons existed… she knew who I was.

"That's pretty!" She said.

"That is what the dragon did."

"It made your arm glow?"

A laugh escaped me, reminding me I better didn't move at all. That hurt.

"If you want to see it that way-"

She carefully took my arm, shoving the sleeve back to see more of the line. "I know these symbols..." She whispered.

Lines and barcodes. Nothing uncommon here. Of course she had seen them before.

"Can… can I see all of it?"

"If you're able to remove this shirt without moving me? Good luck."

Her smile had something familiar in it. She then stood and just ripped the sleeve off. Well, she shirt was ruined anyway. When she saw the whole line she got pale and almost fell backwards. I grabbed her shirt to prevent her from crashing into the glass table, making the wound scream at me.

"R-Rufus…?" she whispered as if waking from a dream.

"Hm?" I sighed, let go of her when she was able to sit on her own.

"Why are you here? Where's Luca?"

I froze. Color draining off my face. "What did you just say?" I asked, blinking, not believing what she said.

"Luca! Where is he? Why are you here… what… what happened…?"

"Calm down he's fine." There was no time to be confused.

"What are you doing here… how did… the fire!" She jumped to her feet, looking down as if searching for wounds. Then she fell on her knees, moved her arms around me and started to sob. It wasn't easy to hug her when I could barely move. Not just because of the wound or because she was hugging me, but her sobbing made me cry as well. She remembered? Just because she looked at my arm?

"That's why you acted so weird in the bar! Of course! You knew who I was but I couldn't remember…"

"It's okay…"

"But… Lass and Sieghart and… wow… I knew them for so long but never remembered!"

I guess my arm was some kind of key to her memories… I just sighed, uselessly trying to make her stop crying. She looked at me, then kissed my lips. It was so long ago since-

"Rufus?!" I heard Lass yell.

Lime backed away, blushing. That moment the door opened. Lime jumped over the couch, I heard something fall to the ground.

"Arme! I'm alive!" Lime yelled

"I remember everything!"

I chose to ignore the following conversation. The stuff those two talked about never really interested me anyway. Lass moved closer to me, stared at my face.

"Why did you…"

I tried to adjust my position, but I was barely able to move anything without pain.

"I don't remember… "

"You could've died…"

"I didn't die. I'll be fine, the bullet didn't hit anything vital."

"...but you fell and…"

"The shock knocked me out. Lass this isn't my first bullet wound, trust me. It'll be okay."

I tried to sit up despite the burning pain. It worked with a bit of effort. Slowly I looked down, glared at the bloodstained shirt. Lass turned away from the sight. Still scared to see blood? He stood and went into his bedroom, leaving me alone.

Dio appeared behind the couch. He didn't look any different. "You're one stupid guy… thanks for saving Zero…"

"Did I?"

"Well… I'm no expert… but Zero is about as tall as you… The bullet could have killed him."

I sighed deeply and nodded. It added to the list of the most stupid things I'd ever done.

"Did Legis finally give up?"

"Seems like it..."

"Finally… "

"He said something of not wanting to hurt you. He seemed pretty worn out."

A humorless laugh escaped me. "So, how are you?"

"Dizzy… but it's gotten better. "

"You're lucky. That's a harmless side effect…"

The tall demon crouched down behind the couch, looked over the edge out of the window.

"Zero was pretty upset…"he muttered.

"I think he has a right to be upset…" I muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"He always helped me… even when I didn't want it at all… And he never complained…"

Dio lowered his head. His voice now barely audible to me.

"I did so much shit, but… I was never alone. Everything happened… and he never said a bad word… got rid of nightmares, treated my wounds… He never left my side, no matter what I said to him… I treated him like shit…"

Now they used me for their problems because I couldn't move? Why was Arme still talking to Lime, she was better with those things… and… I really wanted Lime to sit next to me right now and none of them bothering me.

"I know that he tried so hard to get me back to normal… his drawings are so full of emotions… everything that he can't say is in his drawings… what he's afraid to tell me… the pictures tell me. When he's drawing I can see how much it hurts him…"

I frowned. I've only seen drawings of persons and castles, sometimes weapons. Maybe he did draw something else.

"I'm trying so hard to be normal… But hell, I'm not the same guy anymore… "

"I know." A different voice said. Zero.

"You know that I love you. If I would not… I would not have tried to help you."

"Could you guys… talk about that somewhere else? I'm… tired…"

Well that wasn't exactly true, but they left me alone. I lied back down, stared out of the window. It was dark already. The rain made the lights less bright. It looked pretty in a weird way.

Half an hour later Zero was moving toward the big window, seemed to space out as he looked at it. He placed one hand on the glass, his forehead followed.

"This should not have happened…" Zero muttered.

Was he talking to me?

"He'll be alright." I replied.

"Not mentally. It took a long time to get this much of his personality back. I believe he will return to the state of isolating himself..."

Zero turned around and I was surprised at how pale he was. Worry spread all over the face. He even took off the dark glasses. His eyes seemed red, as if… No. Zero didn't cry. Or did they change that much?

"There was a time when he did not even trust _me_… Can I borrow this?"

He pointed to the table. I noticed a pen and some paper on it.

"Go ahead." I muttered.

Zero walked over to the table and sat down on an armchair. He took his shoes off and was now sitting cross-legged on the chair, the paper in his hand as he began to wildly sketch something. He seemed upset. I watched him for a while. Noticed his expression change from time to time. Was that what Dio meant?

I was shrugging to myself, then flinched as the pain suddenly got worse. "Hey Arme, Lime said something about painkillers!" I yelled at the ceiling, not wanting to move anymore. It hurt so bad.

"Oops." I heard the mage say. "Erm… just a second!"

I flinched again when Lass suddenly walked into my sight. He put a shirt on the back of the couch. It was mine. Then Lime was next to me. She handed me two pills, then the glass she had put on the table earlier.

I swallowed them, then stared at her. She just smiled and kissed me again. She had a blanket over her shoulders, yawned slightly.

"You should sleep…" I muttered.

Suddenly she giggled, pointing to where Zero was sitting. The paper had fallen down, the pen loosely in his hand, head hanging down. He was asleep?

"We could all use some sleep."

I nodded, turned on my side and put my arms around Lime. It was incredible how much she calmed me down. It only took seconds for me to fall asleep. Or was that some spell of Arme?


	10. Chapter 10

**!WARNING!**

**Contains a PoV change, and some… emotional scenes… I tried to hold back. Sorry D: Next chapter will have something more light-hearted :D**

* * *

Voices filled the room. Only whispering, but it was quite obvious about what they talked.

"Take a picture Lass!" Arme.

"They'll… get angry."

"Not if they don't notice."

That would be interesting. Blackmailing my brother to delete the pictures if he wouldn't want them to see them. However, my plans on staying quiet and pretending so sleep were destroyed them Lime moved and placed her heavy head on the wound on my chest.

It was too unexpected to suppress the pained moan and not a second later she woke up. Sighing I opened my eyes, looking at her.

"Sorry… I…" She yawned. "Didn't mean to hurt you."

I just nodded, tried to sit up. It worked better than before. Lass and Arme were standing next to the couch, but didn't look in my direction. I noticed Dio sitting on the ground, a blanket over his shoulders, hugging Zero. Both asleep. That was probably the reason why Arme ordered Lass to take a picture.

"Aw, that's cute!" Lime muttered.

"Shh! Don't wake them up!" Lass hissed quietly.

"I wouldn't do that… but… I'm hungry."

Lass put a hand on his head and sighed deeply.

"Dio's not the only person that can cook."

"I'm still surprised he learned how to…"

Oh that was an interesting question. I hated cooking as much as losing a bounty mission to someone else. Especially the good ones. Lass moved over to the kitchen, seemed to inspect the damage the bullets had done.

"Get new cabinets, they're ruined." I muttered.

"That stuff was expensive!"

"The bullets are expensive too."

"Ah shut up."

Rolling my eyes I did what he told me. Lime sat down on the carpet, looking deeply into my eyes.

"Where is Luca now? Why isn't he with you?" She asked again.

"He's still in the underworld, don't worry. He knows where I am."

"But the portals are closed." I wanted to punch Arme for reminding me of that.

Lime put a hand over her mouth. "But then… we can't see him?"

"No. Unless he finds a way to get to Aernas, or we find a way to open a Portal."

She lowered her head, then stood and walked over to the window. The sun was rising, the rain gone.

It took a while but slowly everyone started to wake up and sat down on the big table in the kitchen. Well. Excluding me as I still couldn't exactly move the way I wanted to.

"Aren't you hungry?" Lass asked me. Well. What I had told him about the flame had obviously worked, he was eating again. I shook my head, really wasn't hungry, but that was because of the injury. Sieghart yawned, complained why they had to wake him. Lime and Arme fought over the food. It was so familiar. But Dio and Zero seemed to not fit into the bunch. Both had similar expressions, speaking of sadness and desperation. They were holding hands, but it seemed that they were afraid of losing each other if they let go.

"Dio can you-" Arme flinched as if she had said something bad.

Dio looked up. "I…I'm sorry…. The salt I… just-"

The demon let go of Zero's hand and passed the salt over. A small smile on his lips as he leaned in and kissed Zero. I was probably the only one still getting embarrassed at this. The others seemed pretty used to it.

"Now that's a nice sight. Mind sharing some food?" My father. Why was he still here?!

"Go away you- argh…"

That much for my plan of punching him in the face. I couldn't even get on my feet. Awesome.

"Ah, you're awake…"

"Be glad I'm still alive! Asshole!"

Zero slammed a fist on the table. "I believe there has been enough fighting for one day."

His voice was shaking. Was he angry? My father sat down next to me, making me turn away from the others.

"You know I didn't mean to shoot you."

"But you meant to shoot Zero. And Dio… and anyone that interfered."

He showed me a paper. It was yellow, burned at the edges. It had Dio's face on it. That was a big amount of money for the head of a chieftain.

I ripped the paper apart. "You are disgusting. If you plan to hurt my friends you have to kill me first."

"Calm down… I won't do anything to harm them. That immortal guy over there made his point pretty clear."

Sieghart too? I wonder why Lime hadn't told me. I almost laughed when my father showed me the bruise on his right cheek. He deserved it.

"We could all go to the park later. With a picnic to celebrate that we're all together!" Arme suddenly suggested. I looked up, almost glad she had found a topic to distract everyone.

"What park?" Lime.

"Well if you don't know it, you have to go on a picnic there! No arguing, you're all coming with me! I even get the food!"

"Let me take care of that, shorty." Dio muttered.

"I'm not short and how can you cook without that-"

Dio looked at her with a glared that could have killed her. "Without what?"

"Without that arm." She finished.

Dio looked away. "I can go if you have a problem with it, shorty…"

Arme jumped off her chair. "I didn't mean it like that! It's just…"

"It's just that someone as crippled as me can't have a normal life, right?"

Dio stood, took his jacket and turned to leave. Zero didn't move so I assumed Dio had little fits like that more often than not. However, Dio seemed really touchy about that topic, and in a way I understood it. He always had been hot headed, he'd probably calm down in a bit.

"Dio!" Arme yelled. "Running away doesn't solve anything!"

"Arme stop it!" I shouted at her.

"You don't know what it's like! You can't understand it."

"Oh but you do?!" She yelled at me.

I showed her my left arm to remind her. "I know it quite well!"

She suddenly got quiet, as if realizing what she had done. Biting her lip she sat down, lowering her head. Lass was about to reacher for her when he saw what I saw.

Zero was biting down on his hand, his whole body shaking. As if he was barely suppressing his emotions. Anger?

"It is hard enough…" He muttered, his voice was trembling badly. "Please do not speak of this… in front of him…"

"Hey, you okay, Zero?" Sieghart wanted to know.

Zero took a deep breath, then looked up. "Please leave me alone for five minutes…" He stood, walked toward the front door, but turned left and went into the bathroom.

The mood was so bad, I thought it couldn't get worse. I wanted to do something… this was like everything would fall apart if I wouldn't do something… was that what would happen? If I wouldn't have returned they had never met again… or at least not so soon… Lime would still think singing in that bar was everything he ever did… I would think everything was like it had been… but Lass would have killed himself eventually… Considering Zero and Dio… I didn't know everything that had happened, but this seemed to be more than just what I heard. A lot more.

Silently I turned to the table, my wound reminding me that I shouldn't move at all, but I ignored it when I took the book under the table. I couldn't lift it though.

"Stop moving, you'll open the wound again." My father scolded as he lifted the book and shoved me back into the pillows.

I almost jumped off the couch when someone suddenly slammed something on the dining table. Arme screamed in shock and I looked over the edge of the couch, ready to fight whoever attacked. But it was Sieghart standing there, fists on the table.

"Rufus, give me that book." He ordered.

"I can't walk, get it yourself."

He rushed over to me, grabbed the book then stormed back to the table. He was searching for a page and when he found it he grabbed Arme's arm and dragged her over.

"Read it! And read it carefully!"

I watched her, having a good idea what she was reading. It was about the fire. A few minutes passed then she suddenly crouched down and started to cry.

"I didn't mean to… I-I… I didn't mean to be so…"

"Read the next page." Zero muttered. He just came back, his face sad and desperate.

"I…I'm sorry….I didn't want to be so mean!"

Zero took in a shaky breath. "Tell him. Apologize to him… He is not the same anymore, Arme… please… please understand that…"

He took a step backwards to lean against the wall, then quickly lowered his head. "I… apologize, I cannot…-"

Sieghart rushed outside, probably getting Dio back. What the hell was happening here? What was wrong with Zero?

"What a bunch of emotionally unstable kids…" I heard my father mutter.

"Read what Arme just read, you'll get it then." Lass hissed, took a chair and moved it over to Zero, probably for him to sit on, but Zero didn't move.

"And be sure to read the part where the demon you wanted to kill saved my life."

I sighed, this was getting too much. Why did I have to be wounded… I wanted to be alone… just for a few minutes…

Dio came back, but it didn't seem like he wanted to because Sieghart dragged him inside. But when Dio saw Zero, he stormed over to him and hugged him. Zero's legs gave in and now both were sitting on the ground.

"I cannot… hold it…."

"You don't have to you freaking idiot!" Dio yelled.

What then happened made me gape like a child that saw the first shooting star. Tears. That demon was **crying**!

* * *

Dio was shocked, not able to comprehend what was happening. All he could do was holding on to Zero, trying to calm him down. Never before had he seen him cry. Those years had left marks on his body too. Being chased by the queen… locked away for months after they caught him. Dio and Lass had searched the whole town. In the end they knew every window, every stone. But Zero was not found. Then one day he was just there, and all he had ever told Dio was that the queen had caught him. He refused to be close to Dio for a while, and when he finally allowed it again Dio had noticed scars on his flawless body. But Zero had never told him what happened. Dio didn't want to ask, afraid of the answer, and none of the others even knew that it was the queen who held Zero captive. That was when Zero had started to draw. And Dio had collected all the pictures. Only realized much later that they told him a story.

And what they told him was worse than losing an arm, or the wings. Or the throne and home… But Dio had been too cowardly to talk to Zero. Too scared of his answer…

It was no surprise this happened now… and still it shocked Dio. Zero was never weak, always strong, stubborn, never giving up. But there was a limit to everything… wasn't it? If Dio was honest, he had seen it a long time before. Zero's wall was crumbling. He was more open with emotions and ever since the Grandark had left the sword's body Zero had changed. Sometimes he even laughed. But the dark memories, his and Dio's too, were tearing him apart inside, and Zero had endured all of that on his own. He never got angry, never lost a bad word. Kept the façade, and made everyone believe that everything was fine. The wall was falling apart. It was slow, the hints little, but Dio had noticed it. He just refused to believe. Was using Zero for support, took so much, but never talked about how Zero felt. Now the shell had broken. It could have been prevented, Dio was sure about that. But he was seeking comfort in Zero, didn't want that to fall apart if he knew everything.

How selfish he was… And Still Zero stayed by his side.

Zero hadn't said anything, the tears just falling without any sound audible. Dio was stroking his back, holding him as tight as he could. Lass put a blanket over Zero's shoulders, then retreated. They were quiet, but no one took their eyes off the couple on the ground.

"I'm sorry…" Dio whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear it.

"I shouldn't have ignored your feelings… I think… I didn't even do it on purpose… fuck… why did you never say anything…"

Dio flinched as Zero moved his arms around him, holding him tightly.

"I apologize for acting like this…"

"It's okay for fucks sake! I'm… I'm a selfish bastard…. Why the hell did you never tell me?! Why did you endure all this shit without ever telling me…"

Why. That was a good question. But Dio knew the answer. It was because Zero was afraid of how Dio would react.

Dio sighed deeply, kissed the hair of the smaller demon. All he could do now was waiting for Zero to calm down and then try to talk to him. This had to happen on day…

* * *

I didn't exactly mean to... write that down. It was planned for some time.. but i changed a lot in the end and took out something and rewrote it. If you read it carefully you will probably realize what i was hinting at. If not, that is okay too. This is a T-fic, i cannot write things like that.

Aaaand I apologize again, I really really planned on writing something funny, but Dio acted on his own...


	11. Chapter 11

Back to Rufus' PoV again~

Alright~ trying to get something more light hearted in here.

Thanks for all the nice, and not so nice reviews, and please people. Be patient. I update as fast as I can. Try to write a story with 20k+ words in less than ten days. Most of you will give up half way, am I right?

* * *

I think it took about an hour until Zero calmed down. I'd probably never know what the real reason was, but I didn't think I wanted to know. What did it take to make someone as strong-willed as Zero cry? It couldn't have been the conversation. Lime was now sitting next to me, hands around my waist, hear chin on my shoulder.

I saw Arme walking over to Zero and Dio. She crouched down in front of them, seemed to sure if she should move or not. Dio looked up, took her arm and pulled her into the hug.

"Don't do it again…"

"If you want to yell at me…"

Zero looked up, ears hanging. He was still pretty depressed I guess. He said something but I got distracted as Lime grabbed my ears and pulled them down.

"Hey!" I yelled at her, shoving her away.

"Aw I just wanted to see if your ears can do that too…"

"Of course they can!" I hissed.

"Show me!"

"Lime I-"

I couldn't finish. She had taken my left ear and bit into it.

"Ow!"

"Hey look at that." I heard Dio.

I saw Zero turning his head, while I was still trying to get Lime away from my ear.

"I believe Lime is trying to copy someone." Zero answered. Was that a joke?! I didn't know why, but I felt better now. It just wasn't like him to be sad.

"She'll never be better than the original! And I bet your ears taste better!" Dio grinned.

Lime backed away, obviously embarrassed that everyone was now looking at her.

"I err… was just…"

My father started to chuckle. "So the depressed part is over? Can we move on to normal emotions now?" he asked.

Dio seemed to want to yell something, but Zero held him back and stood. "I apologize. This shall not happen again."

"Ah don't worry… We're used to crybabies, right kid?" Sieghart said, pointing at Dio.

Dio glared back, then stood as well. "Hey shorty, you still want that picnic?"

Arme flinched, bit her lip, then nodded slowly. Dio grinned, took Zero's hand and walked into the kitchen. I turned away, not wanting to know what they were doing there. Lime had curled up into the blanket next to me, still trying to play with my ears. I missed this closeness. All those years I never knew that I was longing for it.

"…I want to be alone with you…" I muttered, hoping no one else heard it.

"We could go into my apartment, it's under Lass'"

That was a nice thought. Finally being with her after so many years… However, I was still wounded and I couldn't walk at all. Arme couldn't heal me and Lime had no idea where her powers went to. The others were missing. If they'd ever come back? I didn't know.

"I can't…" I muttered. I wanted to, really.

"You should rest before doing anything with your girlfriend."

"She's my wife you idiot!" I yelled at my father.

He laughed nervously at my outburst. The ring was hidden under my shirt, attached to a necklace, save from people's eyes. I didn't know who bandaged the wound but they must have noticed the necklace. Slowly I was moving my hands towards it to make sure it was still there. It was.

"This is… unexpected." My father muttered.

"It's actually pretty obvious. If Luca would be here you could see it. The last time I saw him he looked like a mix of both." Lass replied.

"Luca?"

Did I forget to tell him?

"You see… Rufus and I… we…" Lime muttered, biting her lip and staring at the carpet.

"You don't have to tell him, he doesn't care about kids." I hissed. I would poke that wound whenever I could. He should regret it until there was nothing left to regret.

But he didn't seem irritated or anything. His eyes moved from Lime to me and back. Then he smiled and placed a hand on my head.

"How old is he?"

"Sixhundred-"

"Sixteen." I interrupted.

"That's too bad… You don't have a picture do you?"

"Why the hell do you care?!" I yelled.

He shrugged. "I'd try to convince him that I'm not that bad daddy you probably made me seem."

"I never told him about you. Didn't want him to know that his Grandfather is an asshole."

"What about the flame?" He then asked, ignoring what I said before.

"He knows about as much about it as I do. Which is not much… still more than Lass knows."

My father sighed deeply. "It's a cursed power… "

I rolled my eyes, then moved back towards the pile of pillows as Lime stood and went to talk to Arme. I didn't want to talk anymore. It was exhausting and in the end we would fight again anyway. I was about to drift into sleep when Zero appeared next to that tall man. He wasn't really that much different from back then. He didn't look older… nothing had changed. But I still couldn't forgive him. He took a paper from Zero, then looked at me and back to the picture.

"It's true… he looks like you."

I sat up again to look at the picture, biting my lip at the pain in my chest.

"Well… he's a_ bit_ taller now… And less… baby-like."

"Taller than you?"

I flinched. "Just a bit!" Every full grown demon I met was taller than me.

"What is he doing?"

"Bounty hunting." What else? There wasn't much to do there and as a Haros it was more or less normal to become a bounty hunter.

"You taught him?"

"Of course."

"Are you still so slow?"

I glared at him.

"You weren't fast enough for that dragon."

"If you want to fight me, we can do it right now."

He smiled and poked me chest, shoving me backwards. "I'm not fighting against an injured demon."

Sighing I crossed my arms and stared outside the window. "We could fight with paint. Like back then." I suggested.

"Do you have paint bullets?"

"Somewhere…" That was getting silly. I was acting like a kid!

A little later they had everything ready for a picnic. My plans of staying there because I couldn't hold myself up long enough were ruined when Lass suggested taking a car and someone carrying me. I glared at him, but he grinned. Traitor.

At least I got to wear my own clothing again and could take my guns. Sieghart carrying me bridal style wasn't exactly what I had planned though. And why were they taking me outside anyway? I was injured!

The sun was burning down on us, making me feel more uncomfortable than I already did. I didn't care about the plate in front of me and the disappointed faces of Lime and Arme as I refused to eat. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't need sweet stuff. I hated it anyway.

"Just try it." Dio muttered.

The thought of him standing in the Kitchen still was hilarious. But I saw him earlier. He knew what he was doing, and was handling it quite well even without that arm.

"I'm not hungry." I replied.

"You don't have to be."That smile made me angry. He was like… a kitten. Yes. A cute little kitten. Nothing left of that proud Lion that tore everything apart he disliked.

"Fine!" angrily I grabbed a fork and attacked what seemed to be some kind of… cake?

It didn't taste as bad as I thought, but I wouldn't admit it. Dio and Zero then stood, walking over to some trees. No I didn't want to think about whatever they planned to do. And I didn't have to as a guy dressed in a black uniform came closer. He had a sword attached to his left side of the belt, long black hair tied into a ponytail, a white hat and looked like someone that was with the law. A tax collector or something. They still existed? My father was reaching towards his guns. No one else noticed, but I knew the sounds. The soft clicking of metal that was barely audible.

"I believe we have a problem here." The man said. His blue eyes glaring at everyone, then fixing on me. What the hell did I do?

"What kind of problem?" Sieghart wanted to know and stood.

"I am afraid you are in company of a demon."

"Two and a half currently. No just one." My father said as he stood as well and moved in front of me, and if trying to protect me in case that guy attacked.

"If you don't want to cause trouble I have to ask you to follow me."

"Too bad we're trouble loving persons." Sieghart grinned.

I had the urge to punch him. Why messing with this guy! He could have reinforcements around! The man looked behind him, then put a finger to his lips, telling us to be quiet. What kind of guy was that?

He crouched down, then let something blue appear in his hand. A second later the area was covered with a big shield. A mage? But how?

"Alright. We're invisible to them now." The man smiled, took off his hat and his black hair turned to blue.

"In the name of Lady Gaia…" Arme whispered. "Ronan! What the hell are you doing here?!"

He laughed. "Watching the park. What are you doing here?"

"Enjoying nature?" Sieghart muttered and sat down again. My father paced behind me, making me nervous.

" I just… saw Lass and got curious. Was pretty lonely all those years… knowing who I am but not knowing where everyone was." Ronan said.

"How long can you hold up the shield?" Arme asked.

"It's there until I deactivate it."

"Draw your sword!" Sieghart yelled.

"What? Why?"

"Dio's-"

There was no time to finish. A shadow raced towards the former knight, he managed to escape in the last second and was drawing his sword.

"You fucking bastard!" Dio shouted, blindly slashing his weapon around.

Scythe and sword met with a screeching sound. Arme Jumped to her feet, fireballs floating around her. My father shot on the air. Ronan got distracted and Dio tossed him to the ground, pinning his arms with his legs. I was about to stand up then Zero showed up and pulled Dio away.

"Dio, This will not solve anything."

Dio didn't seem to listen as he tried to break free of the grip.

"Let go of me!"

Ronan was standing there, still ready to attack if he had to.

"Could someone please explain what the hell is going on?" Arme said, her voice barely audible over Dio's raging.

Ronan seemed as confused as she and Lime were. Only when Dio slowly calmed down and Zero retreated, the knight seemed to understand.

"Your arm…"

Dio jumped to his feet, this time too fast for Zero to catch him, and charged at Ronan once again. Lass and I moved at the same second. He was dashing towards the scythe and took hold of it, trying to stop Dio. But he was tossed away, with a quick slash, rolling over the grass. Dio turned, having noticed me. My chest stung as I tried to get enough distance to attack, but I wasn't was enough to escape, stumbled and crashed to the ground. I rolled over the grass, barely avoiding the scythe.

"Dio no!" Lime shouted on top of her lungs.

He didn't listen. I couldn't get back to my feet and ended up blocking the sharp blade the my eyeteeth. My sight was getting blurry, breathing was too hard to concentrate on anything else. Something silvery his Dios head. He turned around, glaring at the attacker.

"The next time I use knives." Lass hissed.

My father, Sieghart and Zero were now standing quite close to Dio, Arme was sitting on the blanket, fireballs dancing around her. But that was all I could see before my eyes decided that I was too tired to keep them open. Someone picked me up and carried me back to the blanket on the grass. I was freezing, hoping someone would notice.

When I opened my eyes again my head was resting on someone's lap and had someone's jacket on. I turned my head, noticing Zero sitting between Dio and Ronan, ready to keep them apart when it was necessary. They seemed to have calmed down though. At least something.

* * *

Alright. My motivation has faded at this point. Not sure if i get it back... I had a lot of things planned... But I don't know if it's worth to write things for people that don't appreciate the effort.

Take a look at the reviews. you'll understand.


	12. Chapter 12

Shocked you? Good. Sorry for being so harsh, but that was the only way to make some people realize that I have a life, and that writing Fanfictions is not the only thing I am doing.

There's another thing I want to say. My nickname is relating to Ronan, as he is the "lap-dog" of the queen. That's why I came up with Guard Puppy. Sieghart is calling Ronan 'Puppy' because he has names for everyone. Please don't use this in your Fanfictions.

Describing a car in Rufus' words is extremely hard xD

Aaaand. If you want to read more about Zero and Dio visit SuperPaperBag's profile ^-^

A cold hand on my cheek made me blink. Did I fall asleep again? The sun was still shining brightly, forcing me to close my eyes again.

"Why the hell did you attack Ronan?" I heard Lime say. Her voice was distant, as if she was far away.

"It is his right…" Ronan answered. "I cut his arm off…"

Arme and Lime gasped in shock. "Why would you do that?!"

A shadow settled over me face and I was able to open my eyes now. Looking up I saw my father holding a jacket to block the sun from my face. I nodded to thank him, then turned my head to watch the others. Lass was sitting next to Arme, Lime next to Sieghart, Zero still between Ronan and Dio.

"I was blinded by panic." Ronan answered, head hanging down. "To imagine I did this to a comrade… It was only right that they left me to die in the castle."

Wait.. I thought he died when he collapsed? What was going on here?

"Listen Puppy, I had two choices. Saving you, or saving Dio. And considering that everyone else was already dead I chose Dio."

I never thought Sieghart could think logically.

"I understand your reasoning."

"You don't understand anything!" Dio hissed.

"I tried to save your ass and you cut my arm off!"

"Dio, cease to yell."

Slowly I sat up, almost hoping for the pain to be gone. It wasn't. Obviously. Dio looked at me, something close to an apology on his face. I just nodded. There was nothing to say about this.

"So… what are you really doing here?" Arme asked Ronan, probably trying to distract them from the real topic.

"Watching the town for any unusual activity…" He seemed like he didn't really want to do that.

"Still a mutt of the queen?" Sieghart wanted to know.

"Not willingly. My parents in this timeline left me no choice… However, I don't agree on the Queen's way of seeing things…" He looked at Zero for a moment, then stared at the blanket as if he had done something bad.

"She wants to execute every demon she finds. You guys are not save here… And she is going to kill me if she ever finds out that I let demons get away…"

My father shifted, then moved closer to Ronan. "Are you saying we are supposed to hide?"

Ronan shook his head. "She is searching for a powerful demon. She wants a slave, one that would do what she is ordering to. She had him at one point, but he got away."

I frowned. What kind of messed up queen was that?

"Are you betraying your queen?" Sieghart wanted to know.

Ronan chuckled. "Yeah. I was the one who made his escape possible."

"Who was it?" Arme wanted to know. "All demons I ever knew where in the chase."

"Is it one of us?" Lime asked.

"Can't be me anymore." Dio muttered, accompanied with a glare to Ronan.

"Ley wasn't that strong… Rufus is only average…"

I sighed. Thanks for the reminder. But maybe I was lucky that the queen wouldn't target me.

"Then there's only Zero left…"

"Zero is pretty powerful." Lass said.

"The Grandark was the source of my power . Since I released it from the blade I am not as powerful anymore."

"Yeah but you could still use its power if you wanted to."

"That is correct. However, I am fairly sure Gran will not willingly return to the blade."

"Why did you release it?" Arme asked.

Zero looked away for a second. "There was an incident. It was better this way."

"What kind of incident?"

"I do not wish to speak about it."

Arme crossed her arms. She seemed offended. Of course. She was a curious person and usually poked until she had the answer she wanted. She'd come back to it later, I was sure about that.

By then clouds had blocked the sun and it looked like it was about to rain. Lass had noticed it as well. He stood, just wanted to warn everyone when the first drops fell. They fell through the shield of Ronan.

I shivered. Rain was nice, but I was still freezing and wounded. There was nothing worse than wet bandages… Slowly I tried to get up, only to realize once again that my legs where still too weak to hold me long enough. At that point I started to wonder why. Any poising in the bullet should be gone by now, and I slept enough. My father threw the jacket he had in his hands over my head, then pulled me to my feet.

"Forget it." I muttered.

He nodded and picked me up, stormed through the park to get back to his car. He wasn't fast enough the prevent me from getting soaked. He shut the door and walked back to help them getting the stuff in the cars. It took a while and without me wanting it I was thinking again. What would Luca think? Would he even miss me? He always complained about how annoying I was, that he was no child anymore, that I acted like he was stupid. I didn't want anything happening to him. It was not just because of my father. It was also because I failed to help him when he needed it that one time. He lost vision in his right eye. It was my fault, we both knew it, but he never blamed me. What would Lime say when I told her? Would she understand it?

Lass climbed into the car, sat next to me. "What happened? You look awful." He muttered.

"Nothing… just thinking."

"Must've been pretty depressing…"

"You don't know what it's like… having a child…"

"But I know how it's like to miss someone. By the way, shouldn't your legs be okay now?"

I shrugged. "All I know is that they aren't… maybe I just got weak…"

"Nonsense."

I turned my head away, staring out of the window. Who knew. Could I even trust those people so easily? They weren't the same anymore.

My father opened his door and sat down. He was complaining about having to clean up the car and that we better watch where we put our feet because he didn't want the mud on the ground. It was like back then when I had played outside instead of using my freetime to train… he always caught me, complaining that I shouldn't waste my time with playing in the backyards with my classmates.

I couldn't remember if it had been my wish to become a bounty hunter… Maybe it wasn't. But what use was it to dwell about that…?

"Rufus are you alright?" My father wanted to know.

"Of course…"

"You're too quiet."

Was I? I didn't even notice that Lime and Arme were also in the car now and that we were driving already.

"A lot to think about…" I answered, then stared back outside.

Suddenly the car stopped rather violently, forcing a pained yell over my lips. The seat-belt, like lass called it, was pressed onto my chest, making the wound hurt again.

"Why the hell did you-" Lass started, but quickly got silent as our father turned around.

He pointed towards the window behind us. I turned and a feeling of dread spread inside me. Lass realized faster than I what had been happening.

"That's a joke.. Zero's not that reckless!" Lass yelled.

"Oh my gosh…" Lime whispered.

Arme was already out of the car and stormed over to the crashed cars. The front of the silver car was pressed into the side of the black one, a blue car barely managed to doge them. Sieghart and Ronan standing beside them. I saw Sieghart yelling something, throwing his arms in the air.

"I-is that Zero on the dashboard?" Lass asked. I had no idea what he talked about, but the silver hair of that demon was pretty visible. There was something like a pillow under his head, the window cracked.

"Why would he… Why the hell would he crash?!"

"Lass calm down." Our father ordered, having his phone at his ear as he walked over to Arme.

My brother was trembling with fear. I put my hand on his back to calm him down. Ronan was walking over to us while Sieghart tried to get Dio out of the silver car.

"What happened?!" Lime shouted at Ronan as she opened the door.

He was pale, shaking about as much as Lass did. I wasn't too sure what I should do now.

"Sieghart was too fast… I almost crashed into him myself… Zero couldn't break… Shit… Shit!" Ronan cursed?

Lass climbed out of the car, stormed over to Sieghart and punched him in the face.

"Is Zero alright?" I heard myself ask after I didn't see the demon move.

"I don't know!" Ronan yelled.

Shaking my head I opened my door and stepped out of the car. It was hard to admit but I was worried. I forced myself to walk over to the others. It was still raining like crazy. Dio was sitting on the ground, shaking badly. He had a cut on his arm but that was the only visible injury. Zero slowly lifted his head, looked around.

"Thank goodness!" Arme yelled. "Sieghart you freaking idiot!"

"It's okay shortcake. It's okay…" Sieghart seemed pretty pale as well.

Zero moved over to the other side of the car and slowly climbed out. There was a wound on his temple, bleeding slightly. Dio jumped to his feet, hugged Zero tightly.

"Waah, don't move!" Arme complained, rushed over to Zero and Dio to heal them.

Ronan looked at me, then frowned. "Your legs are shaking…"

"Thank you, I didn't notice…" I muttered sarcastically.

"You're still the same. That's good."

I shrugged, decided to walk back to the car. The rain had drenched every piece of cloth. There was nothing dry left. The wound was bleeding again. My legs felt like something was holding them trying to keep them on the ground. It started to scare me. What was happening here? I should've feeling better by now, but it was getting worse!

Back at Lass' apartment the ranting began. They had to tow Zero's car as it wouldn't move no matter what they tried. Ronan was had been driving home. Dio was now walking up and down, cursing and shouting. I was changing into Lass' clothing again, changing the bandage as well. Listened to them as I was in the bedroom.

"You could've killed Zero!" Dio yelled.

"I know, kid…".

"Our car's destroyed…"

"I'll pay for it."

"It's not about the car you idiot!"

"I know…"

"You don't know anything! You can't die!

"You're the immortal guy?" My father wanted to know, when I just came back. My legs still refused to do what I wanted.

Sieghart looked up. "Yeah… whoah-"

I was stumbling, almost falling down. "Hell Rufus why are you still so weak…" Sieghart muttered after he caught me. I sighed in resignation.

"What do I know…"

"You used your flame to counter Lass'. It's pretty normal you're exhausted like that." My father tried to explain.

"I didn't use mine."

"I'm pretty sure you were burning too, my boy." A shiver raced down my spine as he said that.

For one thing he called me _that_, and the other… did I really not notice that I used my flame?

"Hey we were arguing here!" Dio interrupted.

Sieghart helped me over to the couch and I sat down, then their arguing continued. I didn't listen anymore. Were the days back when the Chase was still there this exhausting too? Lass moved over to the armchair after he had changed clothes and sat down. Now he was staring at our father who was sitting on a towel on the carpet without his shirt as he had no spare clothing with him and was obviously too tall for Lass'.

"Can you… teach me… how to control it? The flame I mean…" my brother muttered. "I… know you don't like me… but I don't want to hurt Rufus again…"

My father looked up and I was a bit surprised. Lass sounded almost scared. Totally unlike him.

"I don't dislike you, Lass and yes, I can teach you."

Lass probably needed him more than I did. He still believed in him, I didn't.

"We can start when the rain stops."

Lass nodded. He seemed relieved. Must've taken him a lot of courage to ask.

"So… we're walking him now?" I heard Dio ask.

"There seems to be no other way." Zero answered.

"So much for 'a relaxing day off'." Dio muttered.

Sighing I buried myself in the pillow, almost hiding under the blankets. I didn't like being this weak. I wanted to do something!

"I need to get back to the bookstore, I can drive you home… " Sieghart muttered.

"I will drive." Zero declared, obviously not trusting the skills of the immortal. Understandable.

"Alright alright…"

The sound of keys.

"You're working tonight Lass, right?" Dio asked.

"Yeah… "

Then they left. Arme was soon gone too, having to work. Only my father stayed. Lime went to her apartment to change clothing, came back a bit later. The silence let me notice how tired I was. So the flame was at fault? It was nothing out of the ordinary? Then why did Lass feel alright and I didn't? I heard my father and Lass leave sometime later, then it was only Lime and I in the apartment.

"We're alone…" I muttered.

"I know…" a giggle.

She kissed my cheek and I moved an arm around her.

"Your eyes are glowing…"

"They're always glowing…"

"But this is the _special _glow. Like… when you really want something…." Her mysterious grin made me laugh.

"There is one thing I really want now…"

She tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"I want you to shut up." I whispered, leaning in to kiss her. I heard her giggling into the kiss as she was stroking my hair. She began to open the buttons off my shirt, but when I moved my hands towards hers she broke the kiss and grinned.

"No. Just me doing things. You relax."

"Lime-"

She silenced me with another kiss, made me forget the world when her kisses trailed off to my neck moving closer to my stomach and sending shivers down my spine. How I had missed that.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't know anymore… D: Totally confused myself… I had to reread all chapter so I won't creat any plotholes… I'm quite sure I did anyway. _

Start's with A PoV change, switches back to Rufus later on.

* * *

Zero didn't sleep well that night. It didn't matter that Dio was hugging him, or that he was there at all. All Zero knew was that a nightmare like this just shouldn't happen. The worst part of that nightmare was that it were memories. He knew he shouldn't have thought about that incident earlier. The little crash after that didn't help in getting rid of those memories. He forced himself to calm down, was afraid to wake Dio. It was rare for the tall demon to be so soundly asleep nowadays.

The long weeks of being locked in the castle slowly found their way back into the seeker's mind. Until yesterday he hadn't known who had freed him. Ronan probably wanted to remain unknown. Then the release of the Grandark. The second it was free, it ran away. Zero didn't know where it went to or what it was doing. After Duel was defeated there was no reason to keep the soul locked in the sword, and it had also been the source of Zero's power. Without it he was a normal demon. More polite and well educated but a weak and helpless demon. Without that power it was impossible for the queen to get what she wanted. Not that she didn't try it anyway. It was mere luck that Dio hadn't noticed all of this yet. Their encounter with Ronan had been dangerous. Zero was afraid that the former Knight would tell them. But he should have known better. Ronan was not stupid and worked for the queen. He knew what to keep a secret and what not.

What a nice couple they were. Dio had joked about it at one point. Both weak and powerless, unable to defend themselves. Dio's source of power had been the rake hand. He still had some of his power left, but it wasn't as much as back then. Compared to Zero right now it was a lot more though. They didn't have to be strong if nothing out of the ordinary happened, but now with so many chasers back together, Zero got the feeling that something bad was approaching.

Dio turned around, mumbling something. Zero sat up and kissed his hair. There was something he could do. But that consisted in finding Gran and convincing that stoic person to move back into the sword. Zero knew it was futile, still he couldn't stop thinking. If only he knew where the Grandark was now.

"You're awake?" Dio yawned, put his arm around Zero and pulled him close to kiss him.

"Yes."

Dio smiled into the darkness . Zero climbed on top of his lover and kissed his lips.

"Now?" Dio asked, already getting aroused.

"Considering that we will not be bothered at this hour, this is a good time."

It also would help him to forget his nightmares. But Dio didn't have to know about that.

* * *

I was sitting on the couch, thinking if I should take a shower or not. Showering with that wound wasn't exactly a good idea. Lime went into her apartment to get ready for work and now I was alone there. Not knowing what to do. Sighing I got up, still my legs troubled me. I walked into the bathroom, cleaned myself and washed my hair. Showering was definitely not an option.

Lass had left a key on the table and I decided to take a walk. There was nothing to do, and maybe it helped getting strength back to my legs. Thinking that it was a bad idea to leave my eyeteeth behind I stepped outside. The sun was rising already, the air cool and smelled of freshly fallen rain. I always liked that smell. It wasn't like in the underworld where there only weather consisted of dust storms that could last for weeks.

Various people looked at me as I was wandering through the streets. I wondered why, but it was probably because I looked like I was drunk with my legs shaking like that. Without noticing it I headed towards Sieghart's bookstore. It was open, the damaged car parked in front of it. Since I was there already I chose to enter. I wondered why he was still awake.

Sieghart stood from his place in the ground behind a stack of old book. It seemed like they had fallen off the shelf. Zero was also sitting at another table, obviously sketching something.

"Hello Rufus." Zero greeted without looking up.

"You really need a cellphone. I was about to call Lass." Sieghart complained.

He threw a green book towards me. I caught it, was confused for a second. It was written in the language of Elyos.

"I can't read that…" I muttered.

"I know you can't. Sit down, I show you."

Sieghart tried to explain how to read that language until I just shook my head and wanted him to translate it. I could read the language of the underworld perfectly, but this was too complicated.

The immortal sighed deeply, then scribbled down things. "It's basically about the portals. How to create them and how to get rid of them."

"I know how to get rid of portals… I just can't open them." I muttered.

"It says the best way to open a portal is at the same spot another was closed."

"Then let's go there! I can show you exactly where it was." I was determined to do something. And even if this didn't work, it was worth a try.

"We need someone that is able to use magic…" Sieghart then muttered, flipping a few pages.

Zero walked over to us. "I may not be of great use but I am still able to use basic magic."

"Even without that sword?"

"Yes. It is not enough to defend myself, but it could help in finding or even opening a portal. Although Dio and I have tried it countless times."

"Then we try it countless times more!" Sieghart grinned, took his jacket and was about to storm out of the building.

"You should take your keys. And lock the door this time."

The immortal glared at Zero, grabbed the keys and then stormed outside. I didn't know why he suddenly seemed so happy. Was he also trying to find a portal? But for what reason?

I showed them the way, getting annoyed glanced of Sieghart everytime I stumbled. I couldn't prevent it. The strength was coming back, but it was slow. I never knew the flame could to that to a body. It could be that Lass' flame absorbed my strength.

Half an hour later we were at the basements where the portal had been. It had been located in the middle of a small room. When we entered it Zero froze. He looked around as if searching something, then walked straight to the middle of the room and crouched down. He touched the ground and was not moving for a few moments.

"Can you open it?" I asked silently. Scared of the answer.

Zero shook his head. "But I know who closed it. Are you sure there was no one inside this room when you came here?"

"Yes… Everything that was here is still there-"

"Who closed it?" Sieghart interrupted.

Zero stood, tracing the walls with his hands, still searching for something. "The Grandark. I am unsure how it managed to close a portal when it was not present."

"What happened to the portals anyway?"

Zero sighed deeply. "Five years ago the portals suddenly disappeared. Dio and I had no need to return to Elyos. However, my curiosity as to the reason behind that let us try to open one. When it did not work we tried it again and again. But the result was always the same. It felt like something was absorbing any magic we used."

"So… your sword can do that?"

Zero shook his head. "Gran is a powerful being, but has to be close to a portal to take control of it."

"But there was no one here." I muttered.

"Wait." Sieghart said. "Powerful enough to get the attention of the queen?"

Zero flinched. "That could be true. But it would not work for the queen."

"What if it does?"

"Then we have to prepare for a battle."

I rolled my eyes. Great. I didn't come here to fight!

"How strong is that thing?" Sieghart wanted to know.

"You cannot imagine that amount of power."

"Stronger than Dio?"

"Very much so."

Sieghart turned away. "We're doomed."

I wasn't sure about all this. Why would The Grandark betray its owner?

"Let's talk to Ronan." Sieghart declared.

We walked back to the streets, then Sieghart called the former Knight. He talked to him for a bit, then sighed.

"He's coming over to Lass' place. Said he can't talk where he is right now… What a little traitor."

"He is doing the right thing." Zero muttered.

I couldn't decide. Betrayal was one of the worst things I knew.

It was around noon when Ronan knocked at Lass' apartment. We had walked back earlier, thinking about everything and nothing at all. Lass was still sleeping and I wondered what kind of job he had at that bar.

"Whatever you did, the reason you called me should be good." The blue haired man muttered as he entered.

"It's chaotic in the castle. The queen lost control of a power and half of the castle blew up… So, why'd you call me here?"

I frowned, thinking that the Grandark wouldn't be our only problem. And he was obviously exaggerating. We would have noticed an explosion that big. The queen castle wasn't too far away from the ruins of our castle.

"We might know who closed the portals." Sieghart said.

"Look Sieg, I am sorry that Rufus can't go back home, but Portals are not my responsibility."

"We want to know if the queen works with someone." I interrupted. That knight was dense. Had always been.

"She works with a lot of people, tries to find that one demon…"

"What demon… The only powerful demon we all know is Zero."

Zero turned away, looked at the light colored carpet.

"It was me. She thought I was the source of that power and wanted to know more about it…"

Sieghart gaped as if realizing something. "That's why you where gone for so long! Does Dio know?"

Zero shook his head.

"I helped him to escape… The Queen was furious, hunted down everyone that slightly looked like a demon for almost a year." Ronan explained to me.

"If Gran is working for her… She has already found out that I am powerless without it. She will not be interested in me."

"But what the hell is she planning with a power like that?!" Sieghart yelled.

"They're able to open portals!" I yelled. It was so obvious!

Ronan seemed to realize it as well."They want a demonic war!"

"Why would that sword want a war?" Sieghart wanted to know.

Zero sighed and stared out of the big window. "It would not want that…"

"What makes you so sure?"

Zero gave up. He didn't seem to know what to answer. "It could be possible that it wants revenge for being locked in the blade for this long."

"Doesn't the queen hate demons?"

"Yes. She wants them to be her slaves. They last longer than humans and don't die as fast. She is a very sadistic queen." Ronan answered.

Sieghart shivered. "She'll better never find out that I'm immortal…"

That was a painful thought. Suffering for the pleasure of others and not being able to escape from it. Being immortal must've been awful.

* * *

Alright, that one is a bit shorter ^^" Yes, this was planned. The funny thing is that KoG came up with a human design of Gran a few days ago… I had my own image of that thing in mind, but now I'll use KoG's. He's much cuter than what I had imagined xD


	14. Chapter 14

I was still not sure what to think about all this. Lass was awake by then and we quickly told him what happened. Sieghart decided to call all chasers we knew and Informed them of the recent events. Lime immediately showed up at Lass' apartment. This was a reason to be worried. I hoped the portals would only affect Elyos but I knew I was wrong. And that meant Luca was in danger. Lime seemed to have thought about that as well. Dio showed up a little later, seemed as if he had been asleep just before he came here.

"Why the hell did you never say anything?!" Dio yelled the second he saw Zero.

"I did not wish for this conversation to happen."

"You could've told me!"

"Dio! Calm down that's not what we want to talk about!" Lime shouted.

Dio got quiet, started at her. She wasn't much smaller than me, but compared to Dio's height she looked tiny. It was almost funny that she was able to shut that demon up.

"Then what do we want to talk about? That this stupid piece of scrap metal tries to declare a war?"

"If that is the case we need everyone that can fight." Ronan muttered.

Dio got pale, eyes widening. He was afraid.

"I-I can't fight! Not like this!" Dio yelled, pointed to his missing arm.

"How much of your power is left?" Sieghart wanted to know. They never talked about that?

Dio let his scythe appear a second later it glowed and was surrounded by dark dust that seemed to be liquid. A drop landed on the couch and burned the material, leaving an ugly black mark.

"My couch!" Lass yelled.

"Sorry… "

"Put that thing away!"

Dio sighed, the scythe disappeared. This power looked like it would hurt, but was it able to kill?

"So that's all?"

"More or less… I could still kick your ass, old man." Dio hissed.

"Good! That's what I wanted to hear!" Sieghart yelled. "Fight me!"

"Do you have any weapons?" Dio wanted to know.

Sieghart seemed confused for a second, then laughed nervously. "No…"

Dio put his hand to his forehead and sighed deeply. Lass walked back into the room. I hadn't noticed he had left.

"Pick one." He said, holding up his weapons. He still had them?

"Can't be picky, eh? Give me that short thing."

That fight could be worth watching.

"I want to train too!" Lime declared.

"You have that hammer?"

"I bought it a while ago. I never knew why but I knew I had to buy it… now I know."

Finding her weapon just like that? Lucky. But what use was she without her magic?

We went outside and found a big place where we could fight without disturbing others. Ronan created a shield so no one would see us.

It was a rare sight to see Dio and Sieghart fight without one or both of them being angry. I watched them for a while, noticed Sieghart was going easy on the demon. Dio seemed insecure. He was trying to use the arm that wasn't there anymore. Of course that wouldn't work. But I understood it. The mind refuses to believe that the limb is gone. It makes you think it's still there so the shock is not as big. I never got used to that arm missing. Probably because it was replaced that fast.

Sieghart seemed to get a feeling for Lass weapon pretty fast. He was blocking every slice of the scythe, and attacked every opening he could find. Dio was full of openings. Sieghart ducked away from the blade, then brought the scimitar up and almost hit Dio's neck. He stopped in the last second, shook his head and took a step back.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?"

"I told you I can't… I…"

"Don't think like that. You _can_. You just don't want to."

"That's not true!"

"Then what was that? Trying to dance with me or what?" Sieghart made some half hearted dance moves at that.

"What?"

"Maybe you wanted to have some time alone with me." Sieghart grinned.

"With you?! What the hell!"

Lime wanted to tell him to stop, but I got what he was trying. Covering Lime's mouth with my hand I whispered in her ear.

"Sieghart is trying to make Dio angry."

"Why would he do that?" Lime whispered back.

"Dio does not think about his weakness when he is angry." Zero answered.

"It's pretty dangerous… but it could work."

It did. Dio was attacking the immortal. Now faster and with less openings. Sieghart had trouble blocking the scythe, but he seemed happy for some reason. But that moment was over faster than anyone thought. The scimitar slid off the scythe and pierced Dio's left shoulder.

Zero jumped to his feet.

The scythe fell out of Dio's hand, an expression of anger and desperation in his face.

"I told you I can't." He repeated, pulling the scimitar out of his shoulder and walked back to us.

"Dio! Do you really want to give up now?! You never gave up until one of us lost consciousness!"

"I'm not the same anymore! You should have noticed that by now!" Dio yelled back.

"But you're not powerless! Just handicapped!"

"You don't know what it's like!"

I listened to their yelling for a while, then stood. "Fight me." I muttered.

I was handicapped as well. Wounded like that.

Dio looked up. The cut on his shoulder was not deep, and it was already healing. "You're injured."

"You too."

"Guns?" Dio said, was looking at my eyeteeth as if they would jump at him any second.

I shook my head and summoned the nether blade. Then I looked at Dio.

"You know what? Let's try it with me being handicapped as well." I said, walked over to Lime.

I gave her my eyeteeth and the dagger to hold, then moved my right hand to where the fake arm had been attached. They would get freaked out now, but strangely I enjoyed that moment. I activated my flame to release the bindings that held the arm in place. Probably not even Lime knew I could do that. She shrieked when I held that Arm in my hand.

A laugh escaped me. "It doesn't bite!" I said, giving her the arm.

She looked at it, then shivered. "C-can you put it back on?"

"Yes. Don't worry. " The expressions on their faces were too funny.

Even Dio looked as if I was crazy. I took the dagger back and walked over to him.

"There. Now you can't say you're too weak."

Dio nodded. I knew if I was too slow he would get me. But I was still faster than him, even with the wound and the stupid feeling in my legs. I rushed past him, managed to cut his shirt. I didn't want to hurt him, just showing him the opening. I whirled around, ducking away from the scythe and charged. He threw the scythe in the air, grabbed my arm and tossed me to the ground. The second I was back on my feet he had his scythe back in his hand and was charging again.

"Good." I said, jumping backwards to escape the slash. Suddenly he teleported away then I had his body pressed to my back and the blade of the scythe quite close to my neck.

"See? You can do it." I told him.

He released me, and I walked back to Lime. The wound was screaming. I had to sit down. But their faces… Lass looked like he had seen a ghost.

I sat down next to Lime and took the arm back. When I had it attached I felt a familiar presence close by. My father. He walked out of the shadows when he noticed that I knew he was there. He must've been watching us for a while.

"You're good…" He admitted when he sat down next to me.

"Good enough to get Dio back to fight… still, wounded and too exhausted to fight for real…" I muttered.

"Wait… how did you get into the shield?" Lass wanted to know.

"I saw him and let him inside... was that wrong?" Ronan asked.

Lass shook his head.

"We could all use some training." Our father then said. "Just for fun, am I right? Although you looked pretty serious, Rufus."

Zero then explained once again why we were doing this.

He sighed deeply. "If that's the case… everyone should train. Where's that other girl?"

"Arme is working…" Lass muttered.

I hadn't noticed Sieghart and Dio were fighting again. They only got my attention when Sieghart suddenly fell to the ground.

"Did you see that?!" Dio yelled.

"I'm glad he's back to normal." Ronan muttered.

"It will not last for long." Zero muttered.

At least happiness still existed around here. Even if it was only for a short while. It was better than nothing. My wound still hurt though. And right not that was the only thing I could think about. My father seemed to have noticed.

"You shouldn't have fought like that…" He scolded.

"No use scolding me now." I hissed back.

"It opened again, am I right?" He asked.

Damn that guys for being so… him! "It will heal soon enough."

"You know that this bullet was meant to kill a demon. It will _not_ heal for a while."

I crossed my arms. "The what am I supposed to do? Sitting on the couch all day and watch you guys fighting? I'm not like that!"

"And here I thought you'd always wanted to work alone."

"People change!"

Ronan came over to me. "I can heal that wound."

Lime had told him earlier that her powers didn't work and Arme's were too strong to heal a wound this close to the heart. What the point in that was… I didn't know. Maybe she had to learn how to control it.

"That's…" I wanted to refuse, but my father and Lass forced Ronan.

It was embarrassing, sitting there on the grass with a guy having his hands on my chest.

"Ronan's not interested in men, you don't need to blush." Lass laughed, making it even more embarrassing.

But at least the pain slowly disappeared. And the strength in my legs was coming back as well. Finally. That took way too long.

We spend the rest of the day training. Arme had joined us later and seemed eager to use her powers at full strength again. When It got dark my father decided to join. He was using his flame and tried to attack everyone. It wasn't serious, more like he played with us. It felt weird, but strangely it was fun. I couldn't remember the last time I had this much fun.

In the end we were all lying in the grass totally exhausted and no one wanted to go home. Ronan deactivated the shield and I was staring at the night sky, being almost overwhelmed by the beauty of the start again. The night in the Underworld was… Black. Nothing pretty to be seen. If you could see anything.

"I saw a shooting star!" Arme suddenly yelled.

"That was a plane, shortcake. Look it's still flying."

"No, It was a shooting star!"

I couldn't suppress my laughter.

"Wow, you're able to laugh like a person?" My father teased.

"It's better than sounding like a trashcan, old man." Lass replied.

"You little…" My father rolled on his side and was… tickling Lass? I rubbed my eyes, barely believing what I was seeing. He fooled around with us as if we were still kids!

"Stop that I'm getting jealous!" Arme complained.

"Ah.. you want to get tickled too?" Sieghart asked.

"He's abusing my boyfriend!" the mage pouted.

My father looked up. There was grass in his hair and dirt in his face. I've never seen him so happy. This had to be a dream. I couldn't believe anything like this was happening. Suddenly Lime sat on my back, leaned over and Kissed my cheek.

"That was fun. We have to do that again."

"I knew you were no bunch of emotionless stones." My father said.

I unintentionally looked at Zero, Dio glared back. "Don't say a thing."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Lime seems to have a nice place up there." Zero remarked.

Dio's eyes widened. Was it fear? "Don't even think about it!"

"I would not hurt you like this." Zero sighed, stretched and then stood. "We should prepare for a battle."

Dio jumped at him and pulled him back down. Then Dio rolled over and was now on top of the other demon. I was about to look away, but Zero quickly grabbed Dio's shoulders and rolled him back.

"What are they doing…" Lime muttered.

"Foreplay."

"Hey!" Dio yelled.

My father stood, Lass and Ronan followed. "We really should go home now. It's late. I have to work."

"You're working?" I wanted to know, a bit surprised at that.

"One has to do something."

That was true. I wanted to do something as well. But first we had this battle. We needed to be prepared.

"If…. There is a battle… will you fight with us?" Lass asked.

Our father smiled. "I probably have no choice if I want to see you two again. From what I heard that Sword thing is extremely powerful. And the queen isn't weak either."

I was relieved at that answer. But I still didn't believe in an actual battle.

* * *

Huzzah. Next one is getting serious again.

That was enough fun for now xD Sorry... Rufus got really creepy... *shivers*


	15. Chapter 15

**!WARNING!**

**Contains bad words, Blood, and some emotional thingies.**

Waaah… am I too fast now? I couldn't sleep because that chapter was bugging me …

Now it's better, I can sleep. And I hope you like it. D:

* * *

"Wake up!" Someone yelled. I blinked at the yell, not understanding what was going on.

"What-" I muttered, still blinking as the light was way too bright. It was still dark outside.

"Ronan just called me… I couldn't understand anything… he was screaming…"

Now I was awake. That knight. "The queen could've found out that he betrayed her." I muttered, getting to my feet. It was nice to have the usual strength back.

"I don't know! I tried to call him, but he doesn't pick up! Something happened, I know it!"

I knew never to let a feeling like that go. Usually it was the truth.

"Alright. Calm down." I said, sheathing my eyeteeth and closing my shirt. I played around with the flame in my hands to get used to it. I was almost certain that I'd need it. "Get your weapons ready and call the others. Where does Ronan live?"

"At the castle! Something…. Something-"

"Quiet. I get Lime." I muttered, rushing out of the apartment.

Lime was just leaving. "Stay here. There's trouble." I told her.

She nodded and pulled out her phone. "What happened?"

"I don't know yet… Lass said Ronan is in trouble."

"Isn't he exaggerating again?"

"Who knows… better safe than sorry, you know that Lime."

She sighed and nodded, was typing something into her phone then followed me upstairs. Lass was fully dressed and had his weapons attached to his belt.

"I called the others already."

"You're so doomed if nothing happened." Lime muttered.

Lass took his phone from the table and typed something in, then I could hear a voice.

It was screaming, panic audible. The clanks of weapons. Then something clattered to the ground.

"_Lass! Help me!"_ The voice definitely belonged to Ronan.

"That's all it recorded… But… it's enough to get worried."

I shook my head and sighed. That was not fair. We all had no time to prepare.

We met the others in front of the building. Zero with his sword, Dio with his scythe. Sieghart had a spear with him. Lime dragged that hammer after her and soon Arme joined. She had no staff with her, but I had seen that she was able to use her magic without it. My father soon appeared as well. Whoever called him. Lass probably.

"Alright. Let's get going… those people shouldn't get suspicious…" Sieghart ordered.

We really didn't need stupid questions. Running towards the castle was annoying. The girls were too slow, as always. I was too fast and had to stop every once in a while so they could keep up.

"So what is the plan? Just knock at the door or what?" Lass asked as the castle was in sight

"I believe-" Zero couldn't finish his sentence as the big wooden door blew up and revealed all kinds of demons.

"Fuck!" Dio yelled.

"We have to close that portal!"

Sieghart charged at the demons, tried to fight them off, but they didn't seem interested as they just shoved him away and stormed into the town. Great.

"They're going to kill the people!" Lime yelled.

"We have to hold them off!"

Sieghart, Lass, Arme and Lime decided to do that. I wanted too, but my father reminded me that it was easier to close the portal if there were more people that knew how to. I couldn't argue with that.

The rest of us stormed inside. It was strange to be ignored by such dangerous beings. We all had no idea where to run, since no one had ever visited the castle for more than an errand, and over the centuries there was probably a lot that changed. Currently Dio was leading the way until we ran into a dead end.

There was a laugh that sent a shiver down my spine. I saw Zero's ears twitching.

"Follow me." He ordered.

It didn't take long to find the source of the laughter. We opened a big door and were greeted with a big hall. I would've probably looked at it for a moment, but a voice distracted me.

"Aw… you fell for the illusions." There was a man standing at the end of the hall. Green hair, black clothing. It reminded me of something. The voice for the most part. What was that guy saying about illusions? A feeling of dread spread inside me.

"You ugly-" Dio started but was silenced as he was suddenly flying to the far end of the room and crashed into a wall.

Another laugh. "So foolish. Zero, how nice to visit me, do you like what I did?"

No. That couldn't be true. That couldn't be who I thought… The guy walked over to us, Zero was watching Dio, but as the guy noticed it Dio was suddenly flying again. Why was that guy so powerful?!

"Answer me."

"You cannot fool me." Zero answered.

The guy tilted his head. Then laughed. Then I feel like something invisible grabbed my neck and lifted me off the ground. It was trying to choke me!

"Rufus!" I heard my father yell. I tried to draw my guns but the grip was so tight that I couldn't think clearly. A shot, then I fell to the ground. Lights where dancing in front of my eyes. It was hard to breath. My father moved over to me, helping me to sit up.

"Tell me Zero, do you like what I did?!" More laughing.

"No."

"Aw… why not?" The guy asked. It was that voice… but something was odd.

"You do not need to disguise yourself. You are not the Grandark." Zero then muttered.

He was moving his hand as if to show me to look into that direction. The guy or whoever it was didn't notice the small movement.

I looked at Dio. He was slowly standing up. Blood rand down his head.

"Aw… I guess you're too used to that magic, aren't you? Well. That body was annoying anyway."

The form of the guy shifted, then revealed a person that was rather pretty. It was a woman, long black hair, piercing blue eyes and two swords in her hands.

"That thing was so annoying. Almost crying when I told that I was going to kill you." She laughed.

"What did you do?" Zero asked. He seemed to know something I didn't.

"Oh… nothing bad. Just played a bit with what's mine." Another laugh.

"Psycho." Dio hissed. Yeah. He had a big problem with people like that.

"You keep quiet, Demon! But you could put up a better fight than that little knight did. Passed out after the first slash. What a weakling."

Lass would kill me if Ronan died.

"Ha! As if you could defeat me!" Dio laughed.

"We will see about that." Woman raised her hand, but Zero was holding his sword at her neck.

"I only say this once. If you hurt him I will kill you."

That was scary. Zero's voice was dark, laced with anger. Suddenly the woman exploded, sending Zero flying. Zero rolled over the ground but stood immediately.

"Aw… You put up more of a fight than the last time." The woman said, now standing a bit further away.

"This time he has help." Dio hissed. Standing close to the woman now. "Get down!" he yelled. My father threw me to the ground and not even a second before the acid like liquid coated the wall behind us. It managed to startle the woman long enough for an attack. Zero was charging, while Dio distracted her.

The fight was over too soon. Zero's sword impaled the back of the woman. Blood was splattered all over Zero's body.

And she was still laughing.

While her body disappeared the blood vanished as well. Another illusion.

"Awesome." I muttered, getting back to my feet.

"What now?" Dio asked.

Zero put his sword on his back. "We will find the real queen." He growled.

Dio shivered. "I don't like when you get serious like that…"

I expected Zero to apologize but he didn't say anything as he climbed up the stairs. We followed him. There were more corridors, halls and rooms. But none of them contained anything interesting. My father suddenly stopped.

"There is a portal below us." He told us.

I closed my eyes, sensed it as well now. When I opened them Dio stood still, then nodded.

"It is a room in the basement."

I never knew he could pinpoint the exact location.

It took a while to find the entrance to the basement as the door was hidden behind a bookshelf. What an old trick…

The second we ran downstairs an earsplitting scream echoed through the halls. Zero clutched his head and fell to his knees. My father was holding his ears, Dio shook his head.

I thought I had gotten deaf until my father spoke again. "Ouch."

"What the hell was that?!" Dio hissed as he crouched down next to Zero.

"That was a quite unpleasant sound." Zero muttered as he stood.

"Sound like they're torturing someone…" Dio muttered.

It didn't take long now to find the source of the scream. The door was locked, but Lass had shown me enough of his lock picking techniques to use them at a simple lock like this. The door opened and what I saw made me feel sick. It was a small cell, someone tied to the wall. Blood everywhere. The person looked up upon the movement. Ronan. But he didn't seem like he was the one that had screamed like that. His injuries weren't live threatening as well. No one would scream that loud from those cuts. And the blood had dried already, that meant whoever did that do him was gone for a while now.

"Fuck…" Dio muttered. "Ey you're still alive?"

"I… don't die that fast…"

Dio looked away.

"What happened?!"

"S-she found out that it was me who betrayed her."

Yeah. That's what you get for betrayal. I couldn't feel sorry for the queen though.

"I'm sorry for that thing with your arm… " Ronan whispered.

"Shut it. It happened." Dio hissed.

My father moved into the room and shot the chains. Ronan fell to the ground with a pained moan.

"We should get him to the mages…"

"I can heal myself…"

My father sighed and shook his head. He picked the knight up and put him over his shoulder.

"I take him outside… Don't die." He told me as he bowed down and kissed my forehead. Then he rushed out of the cell.

I blinked, confused for a moment. Then there was another yell. It wasn't as loud, but it still hurt. Someone was laughing.

Dio led the way was he could sense the portal better than I. After we walked through what appeared to be a maze of corridors we reached another big wooden door. It had no lock and was slightly open.

Dio readied his scythe. Someone rushed out of the big room and we could barely hide fast enough. But the person didn't seem to have noticed us. What an idiot. Dio was about to open the door when there where voices.

"Just a little more. It's almost done."

"…This won't…. gain you any-"

The scream that followed made me flinch.

"Oh we will open this portal and you can't do anything about it."

"You can't use... my power like that...!"

"The queen will get what she wants, even if you're going to die. In the end you're just a demon. Creatures like you shouldn't exist."

Another scream.

I had enough of that now and ripped the door open, fired two warning shots to startle whoever was inside. A man jumped to the side with a yell and hid behind a desk. The room was full of stranger machinery, most of them giving off some strange glow and magic. There was a portal. At the left side of the room. But it was too small for anything close to a monster to pass through it. So the demons we had seen where real illusions after all.

"What the fuck…." I heard Dio mutter, then turned my head.

There was a construction in the middle of the room, a person chained to it, hanging there in midair. The person was naked, arms and legs spread and tied with cuffs. The chains seemed barely long enough to keep the body in one piece. There was also a cuff around the neck of the person, holding the head up. The person was breathing heavily, cuts and bruises on the naked body, some bleeding. I saw tears in the eyes that where tightly shut. It was probably because of the immense pain. They dropped to the floor, mixing with the small puddle of blood below. The chains seemed to have some kind of electricity in them. The humming made that pretty obvious. Sounded like Mari's stuff before it blew up.

I saw Zero shaking his head, he seemed shocked. Then I noticed that guy had a slight resemblance to the disguised queen. The hair was full of dried blood, it's original color barely visible. But it looked like it had been green at some point.

"Gran!" Zero shouted.


	16. Chapter 16

**!WARNING!**

**Contains bad words, blood and emotional stuff.**

I had to change some parts… it got way too brutal -…

(This beast has over 160 pages in total by now btw…. O.o…)

And. 2 more months 'till my birthday… I'm getting ooooold D:

* * *

So that was the real Grandark? It was hard to believe. But Zero's reaction made it pretty obvious. He was storming towards the construction and tried to find a way to get that guy down. There was no way to do that with a sword. Not unless you could fly. I glanced at Dio but he shrugged. Right. There were no wings anymore.

The man behind the desk was brave enough to show himself. But his legs where shaking. How pathetic.

"You cannot take this demon! It belongs to the queen!"

"As far as I know the Grandark belongs to Zero." Dio muttered.

He pointed a gun at me. I lifted an eyebrow. It was small, smaller than my eyeteeth. It was shaking in his hands.

"Put that thing away before you hurt yourself." I muttered.

"I-I'm g-going to sho-shoot!"

Right. I fired another warning shot. "Put it away."

He shot. But he didn't seem to be used to guns. His aim was way off. There was an explosion, then the lights went dark.

"What the fuck?!" I heard Dio yell.

The lights turned on again, a bit darker this time. The humming noise suddenly got louder and there seemed to be lightning bolts in the chains that held that demon in place. The scream hurt. And not just my ears. I turned towards the portal that was getting bigger now. So they forced the Grandark to use the power… what a bunch of sadistic assholes.

"Close that fucking thing!" Dio yelled.

While I was rushing over to the portal the man was aiming the gun at me once again.

"If you close this I will kill you."

"Die trying."

He tried. What a brave man… I jumped away, the bullet hit the ground. I put my hand on the portal. It wasn't completely opened yet. All kinds of thoughts rushed through my head. If this portal led to the Underworld I could save Luca. But if it didn't? This was no time to take risks. I readied my flame and closed my eyes, forced the portal to close. I heard the demon behind me scream again. Was it because I was closing the portal?

After a bit I turned. The man was typing something in a device, obviously using the power of the grandark to counter me. I backed away, not wanting to kill the demon or hurt myself, whatever came first. Zero was still trying to find a way to get the demon down from the chains, Dio then charged at the man with the gun. He fired.

Dio ducked away, the rebound yanked the gun up and hit the demon hanging on the chains. He was barely yelling anymore now. The bullet hit his arm but went through and broke one of the chains that held the head of the demon. The weird man had obviously no idea how to use a gun. It was ridiculous.

"Shit!" the man cursed.

I shot the other chain and the head of the demon lowered as if it was too heavy for him to hold up. The guy was trembling, barely breathing. What did that demon do to get tortured like that? And what exactly _did_ they do to him? I aimed my guns at the chains that held his arms and fired both at the same time. The chains broke and the demon fell like a stone. Zero let go of his sword and caught him.

Dio was fighting with the man now, seemed like he played around a bit. I turned back to the portal and closed it this time. This was too easy. Something had to be wrong here. The queen had to be around here somewhere…

When I turned back to Zero I saw him trying to break that collar like cuff around the neck of the other demon. He seemed desperate about it, an expression of pure anger on his face. His hands slipped and the sharp metal cut his palms, but he didn't seem to care as he gripped the collar again.

I rushed over to him. "You're hurting yourself!"

"It is choking him!"

Now I realized why the demon was barely breathing. There had to be some kind of machinery inside the collar. Zero and I tried to tear it apart, but it didn't move at all. And I couldn't find a clasp or anything to open it.

Great.

By then the demon had stopped breathing altogether. Zero moved his head over the other demon when I turned around to find something that could open that collar. But with all the buttons and machinery I had no idea what to use.

"Hurry!" Zero barking orders. That was creepy.

A laugh from the man that was lying in a corner now, probably about to die. "You can't open it."

"There has to be a way!"

"There is none…. This demon would have died anyway. Why keep it alive…" The man grew limp. He was dead.

I rushed back to Zero. He was breathing into the demon on the floor, but I wasn't sure if that would work. Then I had an idea. Metal had a melting point. The demon would probably get a few burns, but it was worth a try. I crouched down and ordered Zero to move away. I touched the collar at both sides and activated my flame. The reaction was immediate. I didn't expect it to work, but the collar broke. I tossed it away, only to be shoved away by Dio who was now also hovering over the unconscious, maybe even dead demon.

Never knew Dio cared about that thing. It had been annoying, always ranting and yelling and was never quiet. And I always thought it would look like an old guy with a beard as a person. This young demon in front of me right now totally didn't fit the picture I had of that guy. Still, this situation was different. All the ranting back then was nothing compared to what had happened here.

There was a gasp for air and I relaxed. Dio was removing his shirt and put it over the shoulders of the green haired demon. I came closer again and was a little surprised as the light green eyes staring at the ceiling. I mean my eyecolor was odd already, but that color was… it looked like poison.

"…that took forever…" the former sword muttered.

"I apologize." Zero answered. I saw his hands shaking.

"What is going on here?" Dio asked.

"…the queen used my power… to close the portals…"

I knew it required a lot of power to do that. But not even as much as opening one.

"…she forced me to create one… that was big enough to let an army of demons through…"

The voice was hoarse and weak, the body still trembling.

"It's cold…"

"I apologize…"

"Why… did it take so long…?" The louder the demon tried to speak the quieter his voice got.

"Just shut up now!" Dio yelled.

The former sword flinched. I wondered why.

"You dare to yell at me, you imbecile!"

Dio actually laughed at that. "Let's get you out of here… then you can rant."

Zero slowly stood, then tried to pick the demon up. He was already yelling before Zero even touched him.

"Will you calm down! We most likely have to fight later on." Zero scolded.

Immediately the demon got quiet. Odd. Zero lifted the demon on his back then asked me to take his sword. I tried to pick it up. That thing was incredibly heavy and I had to use both hands to even lift it. Dio sighed and grabbed the hilt, then he dragged it after him. I noticed he was glaring at Zero's back.

"Jealous?" I teased, trying to easy the mood a bit.

"At that thing?!" Dio yelled, making sure the former sword heard him.

I thought that there would be at least some sort of reply but none came. This was more than just odd, it was scary. Was that thing really this sword? Maybe the demon was just too weak to argue… The illusions of the queen already had that much power… how powerful was she really? And how much more with the power of the Grandark?

It took a while to find the way back but when we reached the stairs I felt something similar to hope inside me. Every monster up there was an illusion, so they might be unharmed…

I was proven wrong when he exited the castle.

The injuries didn't seem too bad, but everyone of them was hurt in some sort of way. Lass and the girls were covered in scratches, my brother had a cut on his leg. Sieghart was leaning at a wall, unconscious. But he was immortal I didn't think too much about it. Ronan was walking between them, healing the worst injuries. He seemed to be fine. Probably healed himself.

But there was someone missing. I looked around, panic rising. What if…

I found him lying on the ground, dust and small stones on his body. "Leg-" I started, but…

How pathetic this was. "Father!" It was embarrassing to call him like that.

I couldn't remember the last time I did and I hoped I would never do it again. My legs where shaking when I rushed over to the tall demon that I called my father.

"I'm okay, just don't move me…" A grin. He was alive.

A relieved sigh escaped me. "What happened?!"

"Ah one of those… wolf things. One of them got me. It's nothing lethal… just hurts."

I then noticed his right arm was twisted in a weird angle. Arme had to set that before she could heal it… I knew from experience that it was painful. Was that all the wolves did? What kind of wolves anyway?

Ronan came over. He was pale, his jacket was gone now, the shirt torn. But the wounds underneath where all perfectly healed.

"I can heal that…" He muttered as he crouched down.

"Wait." My father muttered. "Give me something to bite on… I don't want to yell…" A bitter chuckle escaped him.

Ah I knew how that felt. "No time for that." Ronan muttered.

I had to look away as he set the arm. My father didn't scream, but the cursing wasn't pretty either.

After a while he and Ronan stood, and we walked back to the others. As there was no trace of any monsters or portals nearby we decided to get back to Lass' apartment. Sieghart was conscious by then, limping badly. But he assured that everything will be fine in a bit. Lime was walking beside me, holding my hand. She had been worried. Of course. I leaned in to kiss her, wanted to tell her that everything was okay, but the real fight was probably not far away… I hoped we would have some time to rest until the queen decided to make her move. But we had to be prepared.

When Lass opened the door to his apartment I noticed that no one had said a word since we had started to walk back. All of us where not the biggest jokesters of the chase... we had our moments, but without someone continuing on the joke it would be hard to get the mood to a normal level again. With someone like Amy it would have been easy…

Zero brought his weird demon-friend-whatever-thing to the couch. The demon was still in pain. But the girls seemed so exhausted, I didn't think they would try to heal him now. He was conscious and his injuries didn't seem that bad. At least not from the outside. I had no idea what it felt like to be robbed of the own power.

Dio sat down on the armchair and curled up on it, falling asleep immediately. Like a cat.

Arme was walking into the living-room and for a moment I thought she'd start to cry.

"Who is that?... and in the name of lady Gaia they almost depleted his complete power!"

Zero nodded. "This is Grandark… I apologi-"

"What?!" Arme yelled. "But… I thought he was the bad guy!"

"He wasn't." I muttered.

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not there!" the former sword complained.

"It's cold Zero, do something."

Not even a word of thanking Zero, or us for freeing him. Not one nice word! What was that thing thinking?! I almost felt bad for being worried about that thing.

"Watch your tongue. Now I can hurt you, you big piece of junk!" Arme hissed.

Grandark got quiet.

"Arme you should not-"

"I yell at this thing whenever I want! It annoyed everyone of us! Even you, and don't try to lie about it! This thing deserves no better, even if it wasn't the bad guy!"

Great. I hated it when Arme ranted, she wouldn't stop and hurt others feelings without even wanting it.

"Arme, calm down." Lass told her.

"I'll calm down when I want to, I'm not done yet!" She yelled.

"You're the most annoying thing I've ever met!" she then told Grandark.

As there was no reply I lifted my eyebrows.

"Arme please cease." Zero tried to stop her.

"Forget it. I'm not healing this thing!"

"Arme!" Lass yelled.

"What?! Tell me one reason to heal it!"

Zero kept quiet. That was a joke… Not even Zero had anything to say?

"I won't apologize for anything!" Grandark yelled. The voice still hoarse and pained.

"Gran is… important to me Arme." Zero finally said.

"More than Dio?"

"Arme!" Lass yelled again.

"No." Zero answered. What a honest guy… "However it pains me to see him in this state."

Arme bit her lip and looked down. "Alright… but… I want a cake after that!" she pouted as she crouched down next to the green haired demon and placed her hands on his bare chest.

That guy needed clothing.

I sighed and sat down on the carpet realizing how tired I felt. My body demanded rest. Right now. I must've fallen asleep pretty fast.

* * *

*yawn* almost 5 am. I don't take responsibility for spelling mistakes at this time. Finders keepers.


	17. Chapter 17

**!WARNING!**

**Contains blood, violence, bad words, and death. Whooo creepy.**

Rufus goes mad.… don't mind him. You'd probably react the same.

I planned that fighting scene with stickmen and text… I hope it doesn't _look_ too bad … I can't write fighting scenes. That's why I always try to avoid them… I'm better with that emotional shit that comes after it...

* * *

I didn't sleep for long as Lime was still standing when I opened my eyes. She was walking around with a blanket and covered Dio with it. I frowned when the blanket slipped out of her hands and Dio lifted his head.

"Don't stare at it, it might bite." He teased her.

Now I got it. She was staring at the scar. I've only seen it on the drawings, but even there it looked horrible.

"If my powers would really work I could-"

Dio sighed deeply. "You can't bring back what isn't there anymore."

Lime tilted her head and played around with her dress. "What do you mean?"

"Don't be so curious, we have enough of those people present." He muttered as he looked at Zero. It was true, Zero was quite curious, but he never bothered people with it.

"He lost his wings." Sieghart explained.

"I didn't lose them! They ripped them out!" Dio hissed back.

Lime took a step back, covered her mouth with a hand. "T-that's horrible!" she exclaimed.

"It is. And it hurt like hell." Dio muttered. He spotted the book under the table and picked it up.

As he was flipping the pages Lass tossed a shirt over to him.

"Here. Read this. It's detailed enough, and please, don't ask any questions."

While Lime was reading Dio put the shirt on, then stared at Zero.

Losing the wings must've really hurt. I imagined it to feel like being bitten by Berkas. Twice. The wings couldn't be brought back but… what about the arm? I thought about it for a while. It would be a lot of adjustment and cost a lot of money. And did I really get so attached to Dio that I wanted to do him this favor? Demons where the same no matter what race. It could work.

"Dio…" I muttered as I looked at him.

He looked at me, seemed confused. Of course. I usually didn't use their names. I stood and walked over to him. Lime was sitting on the carpet now staring at me.

"It's not the wings, but an arm could work, you know?" I muttered.

He frowned, then seemed to realize what I was hinting at.

"Like that?" He pointed to my left arm.

I nodded. Probably not in near future as there was still a fight to win and the only one able to open portals was still out cold, but it was possible. And seeding hope usually worked.

"You know that those things are expensive." My father said.

"Money isn't the problem…" Dio muttered.

"It would be an arm. I could work like a normal person. But my power would still be gone."

I shrugged. "It's worth a try, don't you think?"

Dio nodded, but didn't seem interested anymore. He stared into the window. The sun was about to set already. Where did the whole day go?

A soft moan made me turn. Arme had backed away from the Grandark quite a while ago and was sitting next to Lass now. The former sword was still not completely healed, but Arme treated the worst injuries. Someone had dressed him while I had been sleeping.

"Gran, explain what happened." Zero ordered.

"It's so cold…"

"Gran you need to answer. What did the queen do?"

"I told you already! She used my power to close the portals!"

"Was that all she did?"

The green haired demon turned his head away. "No."

"She also used my power to fight you."

"How strong is she?"

"Not as strong as I." The former sword muttered.

Zero nodded. "Rest."

"It's still cold."

"Deal with it." Dio growled.

Grandark sat up, cringing at the pain. "Why should I?!"

"Because Zero is mine!"

I took Lime's hand and slowly pulled her away. There was no need to listen to this. She put her hands on my waist and was about to kiss me when an explosion suddenly caused the lights to flicker out.

Immediately it got quiet.

"She's attacking." Ronan informed us. It was obvious.

It took a while until we were ready. Zero couldn't get Grandark back into the sword as he was too weak, and would've probably died. We had to work together. I wondered if it still worked with so many chasers missing, and someone fighting with us that never had before. I couldn't imagine my father to fight in a big group. And I would have preferred to fight alone. If it was just me that got hurt, it wasn't important. I was insignificant. Lime, Luca, Lass... all of them. They mattered.

* * *

When we reached the castle it was in ruins. The queen was standing atop rubble and stones, hands raised into the sky a blue light covering her whole body. I recognized it immediately. The blue flame. But how did she get it?!

"Now that… is shocking." My father muttered.

The queen had noticed us by then. She was able to control the flame, let it dance around her as if it was hers.

"If I'd known I'd get a power like this, I would have never let you go, bounty hunter."

My father looked at me. She meant me, right? But my flame was still there, how did she-

"The boy put up such a fight." She laughed. "It's not as strong as that other demon, but certainly an achievement."

Boy? No… she couldn't…

"You left traces Bounty Hunter. I just had to find them. And it led me to such a beautiful power."

I swallowed hard. The portal I closed. I used my flame for that…

I saw her moving her arms. A young demon was revealed from under the bricks. My legs started to shake when I recognized him.

"Luca!" Lime shouted. It was him. And I thought he'd be save!

The queen tossed him towards me, but I couldn't get to him as she attacked immediately. I was blown away, crashed into a wall and lost consciousness for a moment. When I was able to open my eyes again Lime, Lass, Arme and my father where lying on the ground. I stood, tried to get over to them when I remembered my son. He was still lying on the ground. Didn't move at all. Dio rushed past me, the scythe in his hand. He managed to slash the queen, but she whirled around with her swords and sliced a deep wound into Dio's back. The demon fell on his knees, not able to move for a moment.

I was still on my way to Luca. Zero was attacking the queen now. The eye of his sword was dark. So he didn't use his full power. He jumped in the air and was about to slam his blade into the ground when he was suddenly tossed away by an invisible force. Yeah. Like what happened to me. His sword clattered to the ground, but Sieghart and Ronan where already charging at the queen.

By then I had reached my son and picked him up. She must've traced my flame into the underworld to find his flame. There was no other explanation. His brown hair was glued to his bloodied forehead, his light blue eyes staring at me. There was no expression in them. I bit my lip, shaking him slightly.

"I'm here… daddy's here…" I whispered, stroking his cheek and flinched at how cold it was. This couldn't be true. This just… The tears came without me wanting to realize the truth. It hurt so bad I was unable to move. My whole body was shaking. Why did Lime… why was she unconscious at a time like this… she could still…

"This… this is a joke…" I didn't know what it was but that sound that escaped me sounded like a mix of laughing and sobbing. It would have fitted this ridiculousness.

"Rufus…" I heard my father muttered. I was shaking so bad I couldn't even lift my head.

"It's okay…" He whispered, as he put an arm around me and used his other hand to close the eyes of my son. Then I realized it. The queen had killed him. He was dead!

"Nothing is okay!" I growled, pulling my eyeteeth. I was acting on instinct. Common sense was disabled. Two shots, both hit the queen's head. She slumped to the ground, but I didn't care if she was dead or just playing when I stormed over to that monster and slammed my fists into the body of that woman over and over again. I would hit her until the fucking soul came out and kill her again. I was determined to do that, until someone pulled me away.

"It's okay. Calm down." My father. He had his arms around me, holding me so tight as if he thought I'd vanish if he wouldn't.

"It's okay." He whispered again. Nothing was okay! How could they even think that it was okay?! What would Lime say? And where was she? The others were up again, why wasn't she?!

Why was I unharmed and … why didn't the queen just use me?! Why… why was it so easy to kill her…? I felt the warm hands of my father on my head and back, trying to calm me down. I couldn't. The tears wouldn't stop.

"Shh."

* * *

I refused to say anything for the next days. Lime had died as well. A quick blow to the head had killed her. I was without her once again. And without my son. I tried to protect him, did so for all of his life and then he was taken from me like that! I didn't eat, didn't care about myself at all or anything that happened around me. I wanted to die. This was worse than betrayal…

Everyone of them had tried to talk to me, but I refused to answer. I didn't even listen most of the time. What good did it do when I couldn't even protect the ones I loved? They all had been sad about what happened. But it was my fault. Completely my fault. If I wouldn't have gotten here in the first place nothing of this would have happened! I killed my own son! And that was worse than abandoning him!

"Cheer up little demon…" My father muttered. He had crouched down next to the couch with a plate in his hands. Dio obviously tried his best to make it look better than it tasted. But I wasn't hungry at all. The grandark had regained his power and was probably the only one not caring about what happened.

"There is nothing to be happy about…" I whispered. My voice was hoarse from the lack of use. Why didn't they just leave me alone?!

My father put the plate on the glass table and sat down next to me. "Their souls are pure. They will be reincarnated… you just have to wait."

"I could've done something! It's not fair to end like this…" And the tears came again. I couldn't remember a time where I had cried this much.

"You couldn't. The only one blaming you for what happened is you…"

"You don't know how this feels like…"

"That is true. But I don't like to see you like this. It hurts me. Lass is worried sick by the way."

Why was he saying those things?

"I know you won't believe it, but we care about you. **I** care about you. I always did… and I would erase the mistakes I did, if I could. But I can't. We have to deal with things like this."

I needed a moment before I could speak again. Crying was annoying. It soaked everything and the headache after that didn't make it any better. And usually I felt worse after it.

"Eat something. Just a bit… They wouldn't want you to be like this."

He was manipulating me again. My father stood and left me alone. I glared at the plate on the table after I finally managed to stop crying. It was a lot easier when people didn't constantly reminded me of what happened.

I didn't realize someone was sitting next to me on the couch until he spoke. I actually flinched.

"I know how you feel." Sieghart muttered. He was probably the only one knowing it.

"You're not immortal. It wouldn't be wise to spend your remaining life with dwelling over it."

That phrase stuck in my head.

_I_ wasn't immortal…

Dämon

**noun**: _Dämon, Teufel, Ungeist, Teufelskerl, Bösewicht_


	18. Chapter 18

Darkness. That was all I wanted to see. I missed the days in the underworld now. It never got lighter than the nights in Aernas and the nights in the underworld where pitch black. I was curled up on the couch in the apartment of my father. Lass had work to do and the other where trying to live a normal live now despite everything that happened. My father demanded that I couldn't be alone right now.

I knew he was right, but that didn't change the fact that I wanted to be alone. I was alone for so long, why did I ever think that I'd find happiness one day? It was ridiculous. If I'd stayed alone and never told her what I felt for her Luca would have never existed, therefore never died. Why was I so selfish? Why did it hurt me this much now and not when Lass had told me that she died in the fire? Was it because I knew she'd be dead anyway?

This time I've seen her dying. Her lifeless body on the street. The queen had disappeared then. I thought she was dead, but I wasn't too sure anymore. Lime however remained unmoving. It was over so fast… I couldn't say one word to her. And Luca… Why was this happening? Why them and not me? I felt awful.

"Rufus?"

I flinched at the voice. It was quiet and calm but it surprised me. Slowly I opened my eyes. The living room was big, the couch was standing at a wall, one of those TV things in front of it. The walls white, pictures on them. A light colored carpet, but I didn't care about all of this. My father was standing at the door, a blanket in his hand. He looked like he hadn't slept at all. It was still dark outside. When did I fall asleep?

"Aren't you cold?" he asked me.

Now I noticed I was freezing. It had gotten colder in the last days, and the nights were freezing. But the coldness I felt couldn't be chased away with warm blankets. But maybe a blanket would give me the comfort I was longing for. Something to hold on to for a while as I felt like something was dragging me away from this world. As if nothing around me was real anymore.

My father came closer to me and put the blanket over my shoulders, then he sat down next to me.

"Lass called when you just fell asleep. He's still worried…"

I stared at the carpet as if it could give me words to answer. I didn't know what to say anymore. There was nothing that was able to make me feel better, nothing I could do. The only thing I could think of was revenge. But what good did that do? They wouldn't come back from it. Sixteen years I looked after him and then he was taken away like all of this didn't matter at all!

"I must've done something terrible to deserve this…" I whispered.

This had to be some kind of punishment for something I did. But what was it? I couldn't think of anything. I was a demon… I left my friends and my wife, but is that enough to punish me like this? I didn't know much about the legends in Aernas, but I knew there where gods. A long time ago. Lime had prayed to them all the time. Sometimes I made fun about it. But was that the reason? Lime hadn't done anything wrong! She was probably still caring about the gods… believing in them and that was how they thanked her?

"You did nothing wrong." my father muttered. His voice was quiet.

I watched him for a moment. He was playing with something in his hands. It was a gun. A black gun. I fronted. It looked like my eyeteeth… was that?

"That's…" I began, then saw the golden orb in it.

"I found it under the rubble. Since it looks like yours I picked it up."

He handed the gun over to me. It was Luca's. I had spend a fortune to buy it… he had been using my eyeteeth sometimes, or some cheap guns he could buy with his bounty rewards. It took me a year to collect enough money to buy guns that were like mine. The shopkeeper laughed at me when I told her that she has to find the same guns. She did. Different color scheme, but the same making. That was the day he lost his eye. The long battle of getting him back to his feet… trying to show him that he could still fight. It took two years. But then… what did he feel when the queen came for him? He probably tried to fight her… tried to escape and she still got him! And that without the power of Zero's sword! I couldn't imagine how powerful she was. To break into a portal and find the flame… how did she get him? She was able to disguise herself… had she… disguised herself to look like me? Had she tricked him?

A shiver raced down my spine when a hand touched my shoulder. I looked up. The blue eyes of my father seemed sad, worry spread over his face. I felt bad for making them worry, but I couldn't change it. I wasn't strong enough to move on. Not this time.

"It's… his. Was a present… You should have seen his face…" I muttered.

"Did he only have one?"

"…he used a dagger as well."

"Aha, copying." My dad tried to make a joke.

I was surprised that I was able to smile for a moment. But it was gone as fast as it came. I shouldn't smile. There was nothing to be happy about. The tears threatened to fill my eyes again, but I wouldn't let them. I cried enough.

"I found traces of his flame. That can mean two things. Either he is still alive, or the Queen is."

"You saw him… You saw the queen."

"Seeing doesn't mean it's true. Rufus, you know that. You're a bounty hunter."

Of course. Dead persons were only dead when their soul was gone. I hadn't seen any soul, or felt them.

"There was no soul. Not of Lime or Luca and not of the queen."

"That means they could still…?"

My father nodded. He was trying to seed hope. And damn him for succeeding.

"Then what now? How do we find out if it's true?"

My father let his flame dance around his hands. "With this." He took my hand and without me wanting it my flame reacted and activated. I was scared for a second, but his smile clamed me down.

"How are you doing that?" I wanted to know.

"It's too complicated, to give you a crash course." He closed his hand, his flame disappeared as well as mine.

"For now you have to rely on me."

That meant trusting him. Trusting him with my life. Could I do that? Was I able to trust someone like that? Did I ever do it before?

"I will not leave you alone. I promise."

I sighed. I had a strange feeling about this, but I knew I had no choice. I wanted to find out the truth. And even if it was only the queen, then I could murder her the cruelest way I could think of for taking away my family. Or the most important part of it. I still had my brother and my father… but that wasn't enough…

"Not again…" my father muttered as my tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried so hard to suppress it, but it was no use.

He put his arms around me and hugged me tightly, stroking my hair. This was the reason why Lass didn't want to leave me alone. Once I started I couldn't calm down. I rarely cried at all. This was an exception.

"I don't remember you being like this. You never cried…"

True. All this had started when he left me. Before that nothing could upset me. And usually nothing brought me to tears! But this was too much to bear.

"It's not that I want to…" I muttered, wiping my face with my sleeve.

Being hugged by him like this… when did he ever do that? He was strict, used to scold me… but was he ever nice? No sometimes… he was nice. When something happened, or when I got hurt. He was my only protection in the beginning. I was relying on him. Was that why he left me? So I would learn to only trust myself? Was he trying to teach me something?

"You should sleep."

I nodded and grabbed the blanket, then rolled it together and hugged it. I didn't care about the cold anymore. Just wanted something to hold. Something that wouldn't slip away when I fell asleep. He accidentally touched my left ear when he pulled another blanket over my shoulders. Then he moved his hand towards my forehead.

"You're burning up…"

"It will go away… I'm not used to this… that's why." I explained. It had been a while since I had been sick. But there was so much happening in the last week, this was bound to happen.

"Don't joke about that…" he scolded, then left the room and came back with a glass filled with water and something to measure the temperature with. Great.

"Hell. Leave me alone with that crap…" I muttered.

"I can call Lass over."

"Why would you-"

He used that moment to put the thermometer in my mouth. Asshole! I knew I was sick. It would go away sooner or later. Why the fuss about it? He used to do his own crap for centuries. I had to deal with everything on my own! Even with things like this. When Berkas bit my arm off and I almost died… he wasn't there to comfort me. Why now?

I glared at him but he laughed. Then took out his phone and looked at it.

"Lass is writing that he'll be here in a bit."

"Wh-" I started but the thing in my mouth made beeping noises I flinched, tossed it away.

My father caught it, shaking his head. "Ah it's not that high…"

"I told you it's nothing serious!"

I knew he wasn't believing me, but I couldn't say anything when someone suddenly kocked at the front door.

"Open up old man!" Lass. What the hell was he doing here?!

My father went to open the door and I curled up into the blankets again. Just when I closed my eyes I heard my father burst into laughter. At least one of us was able to laugh.

"Don't you dare to laugh to me!" Lass yelled back.

"I couldn't go home, these assholes followed me!"

I yawned, not exactly caring. That was until someone entered the living-room. Long white hair, a soaked white dress that was dripping on the wooden floor and gave a good look to everything under it. Blue eyes stared at me, smudged lipstip on the lips and cheeks, make up all over the face. I frowned.

"Lass?!"

The person in front of me rolled the blue eyes. "This is exactly why I didn't want you to know what I am working as."

What was that?

Our father walked back in, having a shirt and some pants with him also a towel. "I didn't expect this." He laughed.

"It's not that I really want to. But… this was the only way to get money back then… and now I just got too used to it. And I get free food." A grin spread over lass face as he pulled the wig off his head and cleaned his face.

He really was thin. Now that his arms were exposed , it was more obvious. The wet dress was glued to his skin, revealing things I didn't want to see.

"At least you didn't get angry…" Lass muttered, staring at our father.

"It's funny. Reminds me of your brother…."

I frowned. What?!

"When he was small he sometimes sneaked into the closet of his mother and put on her dresses."

"You're kidding…"

"Nope."

I must've gotten pale. What the hell? Why did I do that, and why couldn't I remember?! But then again… I couldn't remember my mother at all, so that probably made sense.

"You look awful…" Lass suddenly muttered as he opened the dress and stepped out of it.

I felt awful. But this little situation right now actually managed to cheer me up a bit. I curled up into the pillows and blankets again and then just closed my eyes hoping to fall asleep.

They were talking for a while, but I didn't listen to them anymore.


	19. Chapter 19

**!WARNING!**

**Contains a PoV change, bad words and … dunno. More fillers? **

I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. (This is the 5th attempt)

Thank you again for all the reviews. I am happy about most of them. I answered some of them in private. Some others made me upset. Seriously guys, I said it before and I say it again. I write this because **I WANT TO**. Not because I have to. And if you think you can do it better, then kindly shut up and **do** it better.

And don't compare my story to something else. I hate it, and it's probably just coincidence.

* * *

When I woke the sun was already high on the sky. It seemed to be around noon. The fever was gone and I decided to take a shower. After I was done I took my eyeteeth and was about to leave the building.

"Where are you going?" My father wanted to know.

"None of your business." I hissed.

It was nice to see that I could still act like I usually did. Even if I couldn't see everything with this selfish perspective anymore.

"I don't like that tone."

"Not my problem."

"Rufus!"

"That's my name." I glared at the door when my father suddenly appeared on front of it and blocked it.

Our teleporting abilities didn't allow us to go through walls, but they could distract an opponent just as good. And right now My father had used this to prevent me from going out of this door.

"I don't have to tell you anything! You're not-"

"Not what?"

"I'm not a child anymore!"

He grinned. "You sure act like one."

I tried to suppress the anger, but it was hard. The past days had worn me out, mostly emotionally.

"Let me go!"

"Just tell me where you're going."

"I don't need a bodyguard!"

Panic settled in. I was trapped in a building. He'd reach every door before I did. I knew it was wrong to think like that, but do brains ever work right when in panic?

"I just-"

I lunged at him, trying to attack him but he firmly grabbed my arms and glared at me. He slightly shook me. "Calm down. Your judgment is clouded by emotions, Rufus, that's like waiting to be killed."

Hell that sounded like Zero.

"That's all we do. Waiting to get killed… in the end, everything we ever did is futile, we lose it anyway."

"Don't you want to have a bit of fun and happiness until you have to leave this world? It's not wrong to fight for the things you want."

"They take it away anyway. It was wrong to ever start caring about any of them. I could've lived a normal life, could have been a better bounty hunter than I am, and all of this would have never happened!"

"I can't let you fight if you think like this."

Those words hurt more than they should have. But I could do that too. Words had power and while I wasn't good at expressing myself I knew exactly what to say to hurt someone.

"So? You'd probably laugh if I just die out there! Laughing at the pathetic excuse I call my li-"

The slap to my face made me stumble. I lost balance but my father grabbed my arms again to hold me up. Never before had he ever slapped me. I blinked, unable to move for a moment.

"Listen to me. If you want to go and see if what I told you yesterday is true, then I have to come with you and it wouldn't be a wise decision to go without reinforcements. And stop thinking that I don't care about you, you know that's not true."

I looked away. My face was burning. I didn't want him to follow me, or anyone else. I wanted to do this on my own.

"It's okay to rely on someone every once in a while."

"They leave when you need them the most. It's not safe to trust anyone."

"Would they leave you?"

I glared at the tall man in front of me. But his words made me realize that I didn't know them at all. Would they risk their life for me? I knew I would because I wouldn't be able to live with this guilt if I didn't. But they?

"I don't know." I muttered.

My father nodded, and took an umbrella. "Let's get over to Lass and se tup a plan on barging into the castle. There are a lot fo people around there, it's not easy to just show up there and go in."

"We could do so last time…"

"That was an exception. No one saw those monsters except us… I don't know how it was possible though…"

I sighed, took the jacket my father gave to me. It was way too big, but at least it was warm and blocked the rain out.

* * *

"I want to kill whoever invented this weather!" Dio yelled as he unlocked the front door and stepped into the warm apartment. His clothing was soaked, hair glued to his face and he didn't seem happy at all.

"I knew you're still as stupid as ever, how about an umbrella next time?" Grandark grinned.

He refused to return to the blade, and was no sitting on the couch – On Dio's couch- and was flipping through the channels of the TV. Dio took a deep breath. It was no use to argue with that stupid bastard. At least their stalker problem vanished after they annoyed Grandark a bit too much. Those girls didn't dare to get too close to them anymore.

"Where's Zero?"

"He locked himself in the bathroom about an hour ago." The former sword told him.

Dio frowned. Why would Zero lock himself in? Was it because that guy was here? And why for over an hour?

Dio put the bag on the counter on the kitchen and walked over to the bathroom door. "I'm back." He said, wondering why Zero didn't reply.

"Zero?"

Still no reply. Dio tried the door handle, but the door didn't open. By then Dio got worried. He tried to pry the door open but it didn't give in. Just when he was about to break it he heard the sound of keys. Ten seconds later Zero walked into the living-room.

"Oh, You returned early. I apologize." Zero muttered.

Dio didn't listen as he lunged at the green haired guy on the couch. "You fucking bastard!"

Grandark only laughed as he dodged the fist of the taller demon, then laughed more as Dio slipped on a stack of paper and crashed to the ground. The paper now covered the whole ground and on top of the mess was an extremely angry Dio, ready to kill the green haired demon that just continued to laugh. Dio sat up, silently growled when he noticed that one of his horns had torn into the back of the couch. Then he noticed all the paper. Sketches. Hundreds of them.

"Ah shit! I'm sorry!" Dio hissed. His wet clothing had ruined most of the work on the ground.

"Gran, please go outside for a bit." Zero muttered. He was angry, Dio clearly heard it.

The former sword complied with a grin and left the apartment.

"Are you hurt?" Zero asked when Dio stood.

"No… I'm sorry… I didn't mean…" The taller demon bit his lip as he crouched down and took the sketches that seemed unharmed.

"It is my fault. I should have stored them somewhere else…" Zero muttered to himself.

"But now you have to do it again…"

"You can use the time to change, and perhaps prepare dinner."

Dio flinched as if someone hit him. Zero was upset; he'd have to sleep on the couch tonight. If the sword-guy allowed that.

"It's that stupid sword's fault! He said you locked yourself in the bathroom!" Dio yelled as he went into the bedroom to change his wet clothing.

"You know I would not do that." Zero replied.

Dio tossed his clothing on the bed, then quickly undressed. He was freezing. When he was done changing he walked into the kitchen, not caring about his still wet hair as he turned the lights on and let himself space out for a moment. Now that the sword was back they would fight. Dio knew it. Why couldn't it just stay where it was?!

Zero watched his lover from his place on the ground. Dio was lost in thoughts, just standing there and staring into nothingness. Zero sighed, then noticed Dio's cell phone on the ground. A green light flickered, telling it's owner that there was a new message. Zero picked the phone up and walked into the kitchen. He rarely bothered Dio when he was in there. This was Dio's lair and he wanted to be left alone there. And even if it wouldn't seem like a fight to outsiders, they did fight.

"You have a message." Zero muttered as he put the phone on the counter and turned to leave.

Dio put his arm around the waist of the smaller demon. "You know that it's not my fault…" He whispered.

"You should control your anger." Zero replied and freed himself.

"But that fucking thing can do what it wants?!" Dio yelled. Zero ears twitched at the loud sound.

"I will talk to Gran as well."

Dio chose not to reply. But he watched as Zero walked into the bedroom and came back with the pile of Dio's wet clothing. He walked over to the bathroom and hit his head as the door didn't open.

"I told you he said you locked yourself in." Dio muttered into the fridge. Form the corner of his eyes he could see Zero tossing the pile of clothing to the ground and dashing out of the apartment. Dio almost grinned. Grandark would b punished for that.

Dio moved over to his cellphone and looked at the messages. Unanswered calls. Of Lass. Then another message, telling him to show up at Lass' place immediately. The demon rolled his eyes and put the phone back on the counter.

He could hear yelling from the corridor. Sounded like Grandark.

"Let go! I can kill you with one blow!"

"You will not." Zero answered and Dio watched as he pulled the former sword into the living-room, using the armored ears if him. Dio had to grin. Served him right.

"You will take responsibility for your actions. I do not tolerate this behavior any longer."

The green haired demon crossed his arms and pouted like a child. A bad mistake. Dio turned and looked at his phone again as another message appeared.

"_If you're not answering in the next two minutes I'll send the police to your place, kid."_ The message read. Sieghart. Sighing Dio decided to answer. It was better to be distracted than to listen to Zero and Grandark fighting. Zero would win anyway.

"_What the hell is wrong?"_

"_Rufus and co are going into the castle. They need a little help if the situation escalates."_

"_Why the hell would they want to fight?"_

"_That bounty hunter said Lime and the kid could still be alive. So you better move your ass over there"_

"_We're having a bit of trouble right now."_ Dio wrote, then looked at Zero.

The former sword dashed towards Zero, but the demon grabbed the hands of him and twisted them on his back. After his sword hat gotten useless he tried to improve his defense a bit. For small things like this it worked perfectly. And anyway, everyone knew better than to start a fight with Zero.

Dio looked back at his cellphone.

"_I'm sure you two are able to handle it. Ten minutes, then you're here. Or I'll get you."_

Dio sighed deeply. He was hungry, Zero probably as well. Not that he'd say it.

"That old geezer wants us to get over to Lass place… They're going into the castle.."

Zero looked up. He currently had one knew on the green haired demon's back and held the arms tightly twisted. The former sword was complaining over the pain, yelling at how stupid Zero was and that he never liked him. Dio didn't really care, ignoring the fact that Zero was on top of the guy. That made him incredibly jealous.


	20. Chapter 20

Sorry to disappoint you but there will be no epic fight. I suck at it… tried so hard to make it at least entertaining xD As a compensation (Oh I hate this word) This chapter is a little longer. (3k words xD)

Please be nice, even if it's crap.

* * *

Once again we were standing in front of the castle. Men in uniforms like the one Ronan had been wearing when we met him were standing in front of the broken walls, keeping out anyone that wasn't supposed to be in there.

They had swords, some guns. Even a few archers. There was no way to enter the castle the direct way. It was getting dark already, the few people watching the ruins would soon go home, and the guards should change shifts.

A shiver raced down my spine, but I didn't know the reason yet. We had to be careful.

"I can't shield you… they're looking for me…" Ronan explained.

Nice.

"Then we just barge in there!"

"Are you insane?!" Arme hissed. She was glaring at Sieghart ready to punch him.

"The mage is right. We don't know what the queen will do if she notices us." My father muttered.

I sighed. Right. There were probably two lives on the line. If the still lived that is. I felt cold. My father had been right. My emotions interfered with my actions. I had to pull myself together! I noticed Lass yawning as he was playing with some of his kunai. It calmed me down to see him with his weapons. To see everyone with their weapons. I would have been a lot calmer with Zero's sword would be at full power though. But the being that used to live in their was an arrogant asshole that cared about no one but himself. Maybe about Zero a bit, but obviously not enough to help him.

"Why are we doing this again?" Dio wanted to know.

I turned away. It had been wrong to think that they had changed. All of this actually only concerned me, not them. Zero wasn't the type to take revenge. They all lived happy lives until I popped up and reminded them of their fates. Of everything that happened.

"To free Lime!" Arme hissed.

"And to take back that kid…" Sieghart muttered. "You might've forgotten, but I know you liked that kid, Dio."

I frowned, thinking back a bit. It was true. The moment Luca took his first steps he had been around Dio almost all the time. Why had I forgotten? Was it because I didn't like it? Because I was worried something would happen to my son?

Dio put his hand on his forehead. "You know old man, using my name doesn't change a thing."

"What shall I call you then young master?" Sieghart teased.

Dio flinched, then punched the immortal's face. "There is only one person allowed to call me that, don't you dare to ever use it again." His voice had turned into a low growl.

"Dio please calm down."

"Could you two stop your fighting at least until we are finished here? We should fight our enemies, not our friends."

"We're no friends!" Both Sieghart and Dio yelled at the same time.

My father pointed his gun at Sieghart's head. "You're immortal aren't you? You should lead this group for now."

"Why him?!" Dio argued.

"Because someone with anger issues is not a good leader."

"He has anger issues too!"

"Dio, cease."

My father ignored them and turned around. We followed him as he walked past the castle. A little later we found a hole on the wall, a hole on the ground that was blocked with wooden planks behind that.

"Get in that hole, that's how I found into the castle yesterday." My father explained.

Lass crossed his arms. "There's no way I go in-" He couldn't finish as Sieghart had pulled the planks away and just dragged him inside.

It appeared to be a long tunnel, it was dark and someone stumbled into me. Arme. Suddenly the whole tunnel was lit in blue flames. I was surprised for a moment, but then I noticed that the flames seemed to form a path. And they felt familiar.

"That's what I found… I guess if we follow this we'll find the owner." My father told us.

That was easier said than done. It took almost an hour until we found a big hall. There were no windows, just stairs, so I assumed we were still below the surface. The hall appeared to be empty. Marble walls and floors, paintings on the walls. Something that looked like a throne at the far end. The flames formed a circle in the middle of the room, but there was nothing.

"Cute." A female voice said.

"You fell for that trick."

"Nah, we knew about it." Sieghart grinned.

"Brave little liar. I can read thoughts you know?"

Sieghart laughed. "You'll get confused if you read my mind for too long."

A bright light appeared above the circles of flames. A woman in a white dress appeared above them, she was floating in the air, one sword in each hand. The queen. She was glaring at Sieghart, then suddenly shook her head.

"Told you." The immortal grinned.

I wasn't sure if this was another illusion. Suddenly it got dark, even the flames went out. I heard Lass gasp in fear. Darkness. He hated it. I enjoyed it, but he had bad memories of it.

"Aw. I know everything of you. The girl and that boy where really useful."

"What did you do to them!?" I yelled at her.

"I just read their thoughts. You didn't like the illusions I put there, no?"

A gunshot rang across the hall. "Too slow demon. I can see perfectly in the dark."

"So can we." I muttered.

"But this is boring, I want the others to see when I am killing you."

The lights turned back on, Lass was relaxing.

The queen attacked. She tossed fireballs at us, forcing us back. Was that her own power? Lime couldn't throw fireballs. I dodged a fireball and tried to get closer to the queen, but everytime I managed to do so she'd send another fireball directly at me and I had to jump backwards to avoid it. There was no was through this. The bullets got swallowed by the fireballs, liquid metal trickling towards the ground. A kunai almost hit the queen, but it stopped mid air, turned and headed into a different direction.

I turned to look at it, it was headed for my father. He saw it, but he didn't move away!

"Sieghart!" Arme screamed when he had jumped in front of my father and took the kunai into his chest.

"I'll be fine… don't worry." With that he collapsed, a puddle of blood forming around him.

He was immortal… that queen probably didn't know that. It was still not exactly pleasant to watch this. My father shook his head as if fighting something. "Stop it!" He hissed.

"But it's so fun." She grinned, the fireballs now lazily dancing around her, dashing towards everyone that dared to take a step forward. My father dragged Sieghart backwards and was fussing with the wound now. I turned back to the queen.

"Let's see…" She muttered as if thinking. She had this weird expression of insane pleasure in her face.

Suddenly a hole appeared, it had the shape of a ring, the place where we were standing and the one of the queen stayed, but now there was no way to reach her without flying, I wouldn't be able to jump that far, not even at full speed. I took a step backwards as I was standing too close to the edge for my taste. Ronan activated his shield as a wave of fire raced towards us, making Arme scream in fear. Ronan was flung back, crashed into the wooden door and fell to the ground. He was unconscious.

"It's nice of you to come and play."

I found and opening and shot, but the fireballs took care of the bullet, before it was even close. I saw Zero suddenly being lifted and crashed into the wall behind him. He fell to the ground but stood immediately, blood trickling down his head. Dio was about to rush over to him, but then Dio was up in the air, only to fall down like a stone over the hole in the middle of the room. It was now filled with water.

I got what this was about. She read our minds and found out what we feared the most. She would have some trouble with me, as there where two things that frightened me to no end when no person was involved.

I watched Zero grabbing Dio's arm before he even touched the surface of the water. Zero pulled him backwards, then I found myself high up in the air. She put me down on a high place above the ground, quite close to the ceiling, the small marble ledge I could stand on was barely wide enough for my shoes to fit on it. I was pressing myself at the wall behind me, staring at the opposite wall. I wished she would have chosen to summon a dragon, instead of this. I could fight a dragon. This here was nothing to fight.

Below me the one sided battle continued. A fireball barely missed me and I had to fight the urge to jump to the side. One wrong move and I'd end up as a pile of bones and flesh. My hands had gotten sweaty and I was glad I was wearing gloves, but there was nothing to hold onto except the flat wall. Nothing to jump to, no way to get down from there. My body was shaking in fear.

A yell of a woman made me turn my head. That didn't sound like Arme. And I was right, it had been the queen. Lass had managed to hit one of her arms. I had the wrong bullets with me, the distance was too far and I would probably hit someone else than the queen, the risk was too high. The ledge made cracking noises. It was probably too thin to hold someone of my weight. And it ended just a few steps to each side. I hoped all this was just an illusion, but considering that this fight took way longer than the last one, I was almost sure that this was no illusion.

Having to watch them without being able to do anything was almost worse than being up there, but I couldn't decide on whom to worry about. My family, my friends, or myself? Lass was flung back, was tossed into my father and both hit the wall. Arme threw a few iceballs at the queen, manage to freeze the water in the ring. At least now they could attack her. My left shoe slipped. I almost fell. Shaking badly I put my foot back on the ledge and forced myself to stare at the opposite wall. This was pathetic. The ground below seemed so far away, yet so close. But it was unreachable. They were all distracted. No one would even notice if I fell.

Another scream. This time it was Arme. A fireball had hit her, burned her side, but she got back up, then the queen was covered in a lightning. She yelled in pain, but a shockwave forced all of them back again. The ice on the water broke and the whole hall shook. I closed my eyes. Silently begged for it to stop. It was so selfish, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to help them, yet I was trapped about thirty meters above the ground. Even if I had the courage to jump, I'd never be alive when I reached the ground.

I listened to the sounds for a while. Metal on metal, bodies hitting stone, screams, yells, fire, explosions. Shaking walls, the cracking ledge. When I was able to open my eyes again Ronan was fighting the queen with his sword. My father was nowhere to be seen, Arme throwing fireballs at the queen. The woman dodged almost every attack, had from what I could see only a few scratches. Dio was saying something, but I couldn't understand it.

Then the queen suddenly screamed, and turned around. A spear was stuck in her back. But she didn't seem to give up. I wondered who had thrown it as Siegahrt was still lying on the ground, The queen moved her hands and suddenly had a body in her hands. The fighting stopped immediately. Luca. He was unconscious, or dead, I didn't know but I didn't care either. All I knew was that I didn't like to see my son in the hands of that witch. She held him above the hole, now there was no water in there. I didn't know how deep it was, but I didn't care.

"No!" I screamed.

The queen looked at me, a laugh echoing from the walls. "Aw… giving me orders? How about this?" Another body appeared in her other hand. Lime.

"Decide. Who do you want more?"

I stared at her, forgetting my fear for a moment. What kind of cruel person was this?! I couldn't decide between the persons I loved the most!

"Take me in exchange of them." I heard a different voice. My father.

"No!" I yelled again. There had to be another way.

"Nah, you're old and boring. I want someone that can yell, besides, it was you who wounded me." My father got tossed at a stone pillar, a cracking noise could be heard and he didn't stand up again.

"You stupid wench!" Lass hissed, he rushed over to our father.

"Decide bounty hunter. One you get, the other will die. And decide fast."

I couldn't. I had to do something. Lime? But what about Luca? And if I chose Luca? Then what about Lime?!

A yell and a great source of power made me stared. A transparent, purple colored arm suddenly grabbed the queen and ripped her out of the ring. Lime and Luca fell but Ronan and Lass caught them. Dio was panting, holding his left shoulder. His power was still there! He just wasn't able to use it very well.

"They're alive!" Lass shouted.

I felt so relieved I almost slipped. I watched Zero stabbing the queen with his sword, blood splattering all around. This time the body didn't disappear. Was it over?! Sieghart was still on the ground, my father hadn't moved either. Ronan and Lass tried to wake Lime and Luca. Zero and Dio were busy making sure the queen was really dead. Arme walked over to my father.

"Holy Hell…" I heard her say.

No…

"Is… is he-"

"He's alive… but barely… that bitch cracked his skull."

"Then heal him!" I screamed. I had gotten too used to that guy to let him die like this.

I was worried. Not only about my father, about Lime and my son as well. Dio walked over to Lass, gave him something. It looked like a necklace. Probably belonged to the queen.

"What's that?"

"Seems like it's the source of her power. It's an orb."

"What kind of-" The ledge cracked again, this time something of the marble crumbling.

"Forget it, get me down from here!" I yelled, panic now audible to everyone. I looked up again, refusing to think about how deep this was.

"You're scared of heights?" Dio asked, suddenly laughing at me.

"Y-you'd be scared up here too!"

"Not really."

"How do we get him down then?" Lass asked.

"I hope you have no problem with dragons." Ronan said.

"I have a very big problem with dragons!" I yelled back. This was too much now. I needed solid ground below my feet before I snapped completely.

Ronan stood and suddenly a dragon was standing in next to him. Oh how I hated those things. I knew it was Ronan's. I had seen it a lot of times, but this was just… I closed my eyes when that thing took off with Ronan on it's back.

"This isn't be happening..." I whispered when Ronan ordered me to give him my hand.

"It doesn't bite…" Ronan tried to reassure me. It was impossible. I was too worm out to think clearly.

Suddenly I felt and arm around my waist and I was pulled towards the knight. Too close. Way too close. I refused to open my eyes until I was standing on the ground again. My legs gave in then. This was too much. My father was now lying on the ground, Arme still healing him, Luca and Lime still unconscious, Sieghart still on the ground. The queen was declared dead as Zero walked over to us and sat down to clean his sword. He looked creepy with all the blood on his clothing. Dio didn't look any better.

Lass gave me the necklace and I looked at it for a while. It gave off an immense power, but I didn't remember it. Ronan flinched when he touched it.

"Put that thing away… somewhere save… somewhere no one can ever find it…"

"What is it?"

"The thing one of our worse enemies was searching for."

"Wasn't the queen too weak?"

"Maybe she wasn't able to control it completely. Without it she's just an ordinary human."

Lass nodded and put the stone on the ground as if he didn't want that thing to be too close too him.

I put a hand on Lime's arm. It was warm, I could see her breathing. I was sure someone else would come for this stone, but for now I didn't care. Luca flinched when Lass poked his cheek to see if he would react. But my father still didn't move. I noticed Arme was crying. He spell was still there, but I suddenly realized that it had not the effect she wanted it to have. Lass turned when he saw my horrified expression.

"Old man?" He muttered.

"I can't…" Arme whispered. "He'll… die!"

I shook my head. That couldn't be possible. "Try harder!"

"I am! But I can't heal all the injuries… do you know how brains work?!"

No. I really had no idea. So she was telling me my father was going to die?

Ronan moved over to us. "Let's try it together…"

I felt numb, as if I was dreaming. This couldn't be true.


	21. Chapter 21

:3 It's getting light hearted again…

Bad wooords. But you should be used to that now :D

* * *

I noticed a hand around my shoulders, probably trying to calm me down. Only a little later I noticed that it was Lass. He seemed worried, desperate. Tears in his eyes.

"H-he won't die… right?" He asked.

What was I supposed to answer? Brain damage usually ended with death. I had Lime and Luca back, but now that I was finally ready to forgive my father for leaving me, he wouldn't be able to hear it? This must've looked pathetic. Brothers hugging each other, both about to cry.

"…Dad?" a familiar voice suddenly asked.

I looked up, slowly showing Lass away. Luca was awake! I never thought I'd ever see those eyes again. He was holding his head, scratches all over his body, but he wasn't badly injured. Lime was fine as well.

"I'm h-here."

Luca sat up and frowned. "Is that really you?"

I flinched. Now my theory about the queen disguising as me was confirmed. "It's me… the woman's dead. You…. You're save."

"Are you crying?" he wanted to know. I didn't bother to answer. It was obvious.

"What happened?! And… who are all those people?"

"The queen of this town used your powers… we fought her. Those people are part of the Grand Chase. My friends."

My son nodded and looked around As if not believing me. I didn't have many friends in the underworld. And there was no one I trusted. Luca noticed Lime on the ground. She was still unconscious. "Is that…-"

I nodded. I had told him so often how she looked like, it must've been easy for him to guess.

"She's… beautiful." He whispered, then flinched when he noticed Lass.

"And you are….?"

Lass sighed, grabbed my shirt and pulled me towards him. The sides of our faces almost touched. Luca frowned, then suddenly grinned. "You're my uncle?"

Lass nodded slowly. My son had turned away and noticed my father. He was still unmoving, Arme and Ronan still fussing over him. This could've been the last time for us to see him alive. The thought hurt. I had no time to prepare when he left me the first time, but I knew he was alive. There was always the chance to run into him. Now when he'd die, he would be gone forever…

"That is Legis. Your grandfather..."

"My grandfather? Is he badly hurt?"

Now I knew it was the right decision not to tell him about my father. He would have been too influenced by my opinion of him. I turned away.

"Yes…" Arme muttered. "We might not be able to repair that damage…"

"Ah come on. You always healed everyone!" Dio complained now. I hadn't noticed that he was sitting next to Zero now.

"Brains are complicated… I might be a nurse hee, but I really don't know much about how they work… You know I can only heal things when I know how the work…"

I bit my trembling lip. "Let's get him to a hospital then." Lass suggested.

"It's not save. The guards a probably still out there." Ronan muttered.

"Dad…? You told me mom can heal…"

"She can. But she's not awake…"

Luca didn't reply as he crawled over to Lime and shook her.

Lime blinked after a while, immediately moved her arms around Luca when she recognized him. Luca backed away. I almost smiled. He hated being touched as much as I did.

Lime sat up, looked around. "Rufus! You're alright!"

I frowned; fell backwards when she hugged me. "This woman… she used my fear… made me think you died… in the name of the creator… I'm so glad you're alive!"

I hugged her back, kissed her cheek. "They're watching…" I whispered.

"I don't care…" she whispered back.

"Are you able to heal someone…?"

"Who?!" She backed away, stared at me. I looked at my father. He seemed pale, in pain, blood under his head.

Lime covered her mouth with a hand as she gaped. "I… I'll try!"

"Sieghart still hasn't moved a hair." Dio remarked when Lime moved over to my father. She had a few scratches, but seemed fine.

"He got a direct blow to the heart… it will take a few hours." Arme explained.

It frightened us all sometimes. Seeing someone die wasn't funny. Even if the person was immortal. Sieghart would just come back to life. Sometimes with a yell, sometimes laughing, sometimes not saying anything. But all that didn't matter to me. I watched Lime healing my father. It seemed to work, but I refused to feel happy yet.

A moan behind us made me turn. The yell that followed made me flinch. Arme dashed over to Sieghart.

"It's alright! You're okay!" She yelled.

Sometimes he was in too much pain to hear us; sometimes he'd flail, crying out in pain. It always depended on how he had been injured. This time he calmed down quite fast. Arme helped him over to us, and when he sat down he put a hand on my hair.

"You happy now?" He wanted to know.

"Almost…"

"Crybaby." I heard my father mutter. His blue eyes opened the moment I looked at him.

"Hell… I feel like someone smashed a rock on my head…"

"It was something close to that…" Arme muttered.

He slowly sat up, noticed Lime and Luca then. A smile spread over his face.

"You're Luca, right?"

Luca had gotten pale. "I…I… you really… look like…" He pointed towards me. "That's frightening…"

"We should head back now…" Ronan said. "Before someone notices that the queen is dead. Take that stone with you. I'm not touching that thing."

"Stone?" Sieghart asked. I picked the necklace up and showed it to him. He seemed confused when he touched it.

"That can't be… We have to hide it. It's dangerous…."

"You know what it is?"

"The power is similar to the soul stone."

"What?!" Arme and Ronan exclaimed. I had heard some stories about it. No nice stories. The end of a kingdom, the end of Aernas… Duel being involved with all this, some other guy who planned all this…

"An outsider shouldn't be able to use this power… I have a bad feeling about this…" Sieghart muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Ashtaroth."

"You mean that guy is still alive?!" Ronan yelled.

"Who knows… Now that this woman here is dead, we will notice it soon enough. But for now, let's get home and treat the wounds."

We chose to move over to my father's place. It was bigger than Lass apartment and it wouldn't feel so crowded with ten persons in there. After all wounds had been treated it got silent. Sieghart was staring at the necklace. Zero had left to get Grandark. I didn't know exactly why, but he probably had his reasons.

Luca was being less shocked than I had been at how different Kanavan was from what I told him. He asked a bit, but seemed to get used to it quite fast.

"Who is this Ashtaroth?" Luca asked Sieghart

"Bad guy. Destroyed a whole kingdom and tried to destroy Aernas. Also killed all Highlanders, except me. Created Kaze'aze and killed someone important to Ronan."

"Don't bring that up now, please." Ronan muttered.

I heard about this before. Ashtaroth killing a friend of Ronan, and the whole chase ended up boarding the train to the underworld. The story was so absurd that I didn't believe it at first.

"Ashtaroth is a bad guy, don't ever get close to him." Sieghart explained.

"So, where do we hide that stone now?" Lass asked.

"Aernas is not a good place. Also, Elyos will not be able to keep an object like this hidden. I assume it will be the safest in the Underworld." Zero muttered. He had entered the living room, the humanoid form of his sword in tow.

"You should consider, locking your front door, Legis."

My father sighed.

"The Underworld?" Sieghart repeated. "That might work!"

"There are a few places to hide it... I could take it there." I said.

"If we get a working portal that is."

"I was thinking about this earlier, that is the reason I brought Gran. He will open a portal to the Underworld."

Perfect. I could go home. Finally! But… Lime.

"You're coming back, aren't you?" Luca asked, biting his lip.

I nodded without thinking . Lime took my arm, looked at me with sad eyes. "Don't leave me alone for so long again… I know it's selfish… but please… please come back as soon as you can…"

I moved my arms around her, kissed her hair. I wouldn't leave her alone. Not ever again. "As soon as possible." I whispered.

She smiled and backed away. Traced the blue line on my arm. Then I remembered something.

"Dio, you're coming with me."

"What? Why?!"

"Consider it a surprise." I like to surprise them as much as I hated being surprised. My father seemed to know what I was planning was he threw a small bag with money over to me. I caught it, nodded to thank him, noticed a rolled sheet of paper attached to it. I would look into that later.

"Why me? What about Zero?"

"We will be back in a few days."

"I will be fine, Dio. Do not worry." Zero told him, then turned to talk to Grandark. Seemed like every one knew what I was planning, except Dio. Perfect.

Sieghart stood and handed the stone over to me. "Don't lose that thing. And never even think about using its power. And hide it well."

I nodded, taking the stone and put it into my bag. I tied it to a strap inside so it wouldn't fall out, then turned towards Zero who was nodding at me. He moved over to Dio and jumped up at the taller demon to kiss him. What a weird reaction… I turned away, not wanting to see this. A bit later Grandark opened a portal.

"This portal will be open until you are back. Take your time." Zero said. "Be careful."

"Why the hell do you let me go with this guy?!" Dio complained.

"I believe you will like the surprise."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

I shook my head, then stepped through the portal. Someone must've pushed Dio as he was stumbling into me.

"Zero you-" he yelled, but there was just a portal now.

"Fuck, why is it so dark here?!"

"it's always this dark."

"But kind of dimension is this?!"

"The underworld. Now stop yelling or they'll get suspicious. They're not exactly fond of asmodians here."

"You could have told that before!" Dio hissed.

"They know me. They will not attack anyone in my company."

I heard Dio grumbling something, but I didn't care as I started walking.

I headed for the castle. There was a place to store magical objects. Nothing had ever been stolen from there, and I hope it stayed like this. The person guarding this place wasn't the nicest, but at least the objects were safe there.

Once we reached the castle the guards blocked out path.

"Rufus Wilde, in company of Dio Burning Canyon. I have to store a rare object here."

The guards moved aside. "I heard You were in Aernas." One of them said.

"Don't believe the rumors, they can kill." I muttered when I passed them.

Dio followed closely. Seemed like he didn't like the atmosphere.

"You could tell me what I am doing here." He muttered when I found my way through the castle, down to the basement.

"You will see it soon enough."

We reached the end of a long corridor and I headed left. All this wasn't really interesting to me anymore. I stored a lot of things here. I reached the counter and a familiar woman greeted me. She wasn't very pretty, but trustworthy. She ran this storage since I had been a child.

"Hello Mister Wilde. A friend of yours?" She asked me and pointed to Dio.

"Yes. Don't mind him, he's not from here."

She nodded and smiled. "What can I do for you?"

I took the stone out of my bag. "This has to be put in a sealed storage." I told her.

The nodded and opened a drawer behind her. She took out a box and put it in front of me. I put the stone into it and she closed it.

"Please set a password." She told me.

I moved my hand over the small, green glowing stone and closed my eyes. I always wondered how I managed to remember so many passwords. When I took my hand away the stone had turned red.

"I put this in your storage then. Anything else I can do for you?"

I nodded twice, and tapped a finger on the counter. This was my way of getting my money out of the storage. I learned it from my father and picked it up. She knew what it meant.

"Wait a moment please."

She left behind a door and I turned to Dio. He was staring at the ceiling, and the decorations.

"Not at all like Elyos… This is actually pretty."

"I've never been to Elyos."

"It's just a dark and ugly place… I don't want to ever go there again."

"Why?"

"They banned me for nothing. You read that book… "

I nodded. He rubbed his eyes. "Can't you do something about this darkness, it's starting to hurt.

"Isn't Elyos dark as well?"

"I'm living in Aernas for quite a while. I don't need to see in the dark anymore. Not for long that is. My eyes got used to it."

Right. Like how my eyes reacted to the bright light in Aernas after living in the Underworld for so long.

"Bear with it. We're going to a brighter place soon."

"I hope you have a damn good reason to keep me from Zero for this long."

"You'll like it."

The woman came back, two small bags in her hand. She put them on the counter, and smiled.

"That's all for now. Thank you."

"Come back whenever you need something."

I nodded, stuffed the small bags in my bag and left the room.

"Charming old lady…" Dio muttered sarcastically.

"She's okay. The one we're going to visit _now_ is a bit weird."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh she has some screws lose. But she's great in what she's doing."

"And what is she doing?"

"You'll see."

Dio asked more, but I didn't answer. He was following me out of the castle and through the town. It didn't take long to get to the building I headed for. When I knocked at the door Dio sighed deeply.

"Armor?" He muttered.

"You'll see."

"Fran, open up!" I yelled as no one opened.

"I'm coming you impatient bastard!" the voice of a woman answered.

I saw Dio blinking in surprise. "Told you." I whispered.

The woman ripped the door open. Bright light made it almost impossible for me to keep my eyes open. But I didn't have to get used to it as she stepped out and closed the door. Her hair was short and fuzzy, colored in a rainbow. Glasses on her nose. Her green eyes stared at me. Nothing out of the ordinary, but certainly a surprise for Dio.

"Who dares to bother?! I'm taking a break!"

"Sorry, I have-"

"Ah! Rufus! I haven't seen you in forever! How's the arm?!"

I sighed deeply. "It's fine. Listen I want you to-"

"Alright alright. Come one in, I have a lot to finish. You can tell me everything inside."

Dio and I followed her inside. The shop hadn't changed at all. All kinds of armor on the walls, weapons – mostly guns- in displays, and tools on every table.

"So?" She asked as she hopped on the table and told us to sit down.

I pointed towards Dio. "Look at him, you tell me."

She adjusted her glasses, tilted her head and jumped off the table. "You brought an amosdian! Can I examine him?!"

"Hey!" Dio yelled.

"Fran, pull yourself together… look closer."

"Hmmm…" she mumbled, as she was walking around Dio, tapping her fingers to her lips as she was thinking.

"Oh now I got it! He's missing an arm."

Dio lifted an eyebrow and glared at me. The eyes where telling me what he didn't voice.

"_If you don't have a good explanation for this you're dead."_


	22. Chapter 22

**Looong and boring filler scenes…. Forgive me. It will be over soon.**

* * *

Dio still didn't seem to have any idea what this was about when Fran looked back at me.

"So, What did you have in mind?" She asked me.

"It's a bit complicated." I told her, took out the paper that had been attached to my father's money.

When I handed it over she was tapping her fingers at her lips again. "Something like this?"

"Ask him."

She nodded, took out a measuring tape and had this slightly insane grin on her face. It used to creep me out for the longest time.

"Remove your shirt, young man."

"Why?"

Fran turned to me. "Did you even tell him why he's here?"

I grinned and shook my head. "You can tell him now, he'll still be surprised."

She nodded, went into a room nearby and came back with three boxes and a small bag on top of them. She placed them on the table in the middle of the room and opened one of them.

"Hmm… " she muttered, looking into the box and back at Dio. "Not the right color…" She opened the next box.

Dio peeked into the box and got pale as realization hit him. "You… were serious?" he whispered.

"I told you it's possible. And I saw you using your power, it's still there but you can't channel it, right?"

He nodded, blinked in confusion. "She made it possible for me to use my power with that arm, so I figured with a few adjustments it would work on you too." I explained.

Fran kept changing rooms now. I was used to that. In the end six boxes were on the table, two more bags and a small package with glowing stones in all colors.

"I tell you that before I start. This will be painful. You will not be able to use the arm for at least two days because of it. I cannot create an exact replica, are you okay with that?"

Dio sighed. "It would probably better if it doesn't look like it did back then."

Fran nodded. "All your power will be drawn into this," She held up one of the stones. "You will not feel very well in the first hours. It can last up to three or four days until it adjusted itself. Also, you will not be able to carry heavy objects for a longer time. Rufus still can't"

She looked around. "Any questions?"

Dio shook his head.

I sat down and watched them. For some reason it made me happy. I was able to do something for someone. And he'd appreciate it. Dio removed his shirt and Fran began to work. I knew how this looked like, and I also knew that it was painful. There was no reason for me to watch this. She had changed her methods a bit since then, but the main stuff was still the same. I was about to doze off when I heard Dio hissing in pain. I expected him to yell or to complain, but he kept quiet.

"You don't have to hold back, your friend there screamed like I was going to kill him." Fran said.

"Considering a dragon had just attacked me and I didn't know you it was reasonable. Also I was a lot younger."

She laughed, then stood. She was a lot faster than back then. The arm was already in place. Uselessly hanging down as there was no magic in there yet but it already looked normal. Dio had the elbow of the other hand on the table and was biting down on his hand. The pain was unbearable, I knew it.

Fran came back with the stones. "Alright. Pick a color, we want you to like this, eh?"

I almost laughed when I remembered that she said this to me too. But I just screamed at her, telling her to get over with this before I shoot her. I was too young to comprehend why this was hurting so much, too scared to find reason in her actions. She then had picked a color she thought suited me. It was always visible, glowing softly in the dark. The blue line contrasted to the red I was always wearing. It did fit.

Dio pointed to a magenta colored stone.

"Fits your hair color. Good choice." She smiled. When she took some tools out of a drawer Dio looked horrified.

"It's better to not watch her doing that.." I told him.

Fran placed her tools on the table and scooted a chair over. Then she placed a bucket on Dio's lap. "You're going to puke. Prepare for it."

"What?"

"The second I put the stone in your whole body reacts to it. You will feel this arm and it will not be a pleasant feeling. Don't try to hold back, it's impossible."

She removed one of the bands on her arm and walked behind Dio. "I'll tie your hair, wouldn't want that to get in the way. Now look over there. This here will not be pretty."

Dio looked over to me. She tied his hair and sat down again. I figured it would be better to distract him, as she was carving lines in his shoulder now. It was to hold the arm in place with magic and to enable the flow or his power.

"So… when are we ready to… leave?" he flinched at the pain and got scolded by Fran, ordering him to sit still unless he wanted holes in his body.

"As soon as she's done. I want to go home as well… They're waiting…"

"You're a weird guy, did I ever tell you?"

"He's always been." Fran answered for me.

"Should've seen him as a child. He was so funny. Now he's all boring and lame."

Dio sighed, cringed at the pain again. Fran hit his head with her palm. "Sit still!"

I turned away from the sight. I wasn't scared of blood or anything, but that didn't mean that I liked the sight. And it also reminded me of my very own experience. She didn't have to carve into my shoulder, but used what was left of my arm. It probably hurt as much as this.

"Ah my… you're shaking. Want me to take a break?" I heard Fran ask.

"…No." Dio's voice was hoarse and weak now.

"Alrighty~" She made some quick carvings on the arm itself. It wasn't made of anything organic, therefore wouldn't bleed, and she was a lot faster with the carvings on the arm. Of course. When it didn't hurt, you could stop being careful. Sometimes.

"All done." She grinned after a few minutes. "I put the stone in now."

Dio sighed deeply. "Sit up straight." She told him.

Fran slowly took the limp arm and carefully and slowly placed the stone into the carving made for it. Suddenly the carving started to glow in the color of the stone. When it reached his shoulder Dio yelled in pain. He quickly shut his mouth and bent over. His breath was hitching and weird sounds escaped him as he pressed a hand over his mouth.

"Stubborn idiot. I see this every day, no need to get embarrassed. I'm going to activate the powers now." Fran told him.

She took out a transparent stone out of a pocket on her belt and held it over the stone in the arm. I turned away when whatever Dio had eaten earlier landed in the bucket. I probably looked the same back then. But it was nothing I wanted to remember.

"Don't panic. This is absolutely normal. You should be able to feel the arm now."

Dio was coughing, trying to catch his breath as Fran was fussing over him and took the bucket away. When she came back with a glass filled with water I saw tears in Dio's eyes. Fran grinned. When she gave him the glass. He quickly emptied it and sat it on the table.

"Try to move it."

Dio bit his lip as he slowly lifted the arm. When he realized it he blinked in surprise.

"The pain will get worse before it gets better. Now let me bandage the wounds up and you're ready to go."

"Payment?" I asked her.

"Oh.. I totally forgot about that! The half of the usual price, because you brought suck a nice guy!"

Still expensive. But her work was good and since I didn't plan to go back here anytime soon one hundred thousand gold wouldn't hurt that much. And I already knew she was going to at least charge one anyway.

Dio was walking beside me, swaying from time to time. He hadn't said one word since we left. Fran had put his arm in a bandage and set it so he wouldn't have to strain the arm. As he was without the other arm for so long he'd probably need some time to get used to it anyway.

"Rufus?" Dio suddenly asked.

I looked at him, not sure what this was about.

"About the money… I'll pay it back."

"Don't worry about it… consider it a gift."

"Why would you do something like that for me?"

"I wanted to. There is no deeper reason behind it. I knew it was going to make you happy, so I did it."

"I don't know how to thank you…"

"Hell, stop with this… you're creepy when you're so friendly!"

"Deal with it. Idiot. You were the last person I expected to do anything for me."

I sighed and shut up. This conversation would turn into a fight if we continued it.

We headed back for the portal. When we walked through it, it closed and we were greeted with a dark and empty living room.

"Anyone here?" I asked, dread filling my chest immediately. But it was night, they were probably asleep.

A light turned on and I saw someone on the couch curled up into a blanket, silvery hair betraying who he was. My father walked into the living room, yawning.

" Welcome ba-"

"Shh!" Dio whispered, pointed towards Zero on the couch.

"You'll wake him if you're too loud!"

"He seemed pretty exhausted earlier. Sleeps like a stone." My father explained. "The others went to bed already, it's four in the morning."

"Zero held that portal open until now, it's normal he's exhausted, you idiot" Dio quietly hissed. He stumbled, barely managed to get to one of the two armchairs before he fell.

"You two should sleep." My father told him.

Dio was staring at the arm in the bandage, probably still not understanding that it was there.

I fell asleep a little later.

_He was storming through the wasteland. There wasn't much to see here, mountains, hills, dust and monsters._

"_Luca!" He screamed, his voice echoing over the field._

_He was running as fast as he could, stumbled a few times, sweat glistening on his forehead. His chest hurt, his body demanding rest, but he couldn't stop. They had an argument. One stupid argument and Luca ran away. He tripped, fell to the ground and rolled over a few times. His legs were shaking when he got back to his feet. His ears picked up gunshots close by. He stormed into that direction. It didn't take long for him to reach the place where the gun shots were coming from._

_His son was on the ground, covered in blood and scratches, barely able to hold his gun up. Rufus pulled his guns and killed the monster with two well aimed shots as he stormed towards the young demon. _

"_Luca!" He shouted, letting himself fall on his knees next to his son._

_Blood covered the right side of his face, marks of claws visible. The wounds where deep. A scratch on his right ear, a deep gash over his chest._

"…_I… couldn't… kill it." The boy whispred. _

_He picked the young demon up but as soon as he did so the body grew limp._

I sat up, looked around, my heart raced. Zero sat up as well, staring at me with wide eyes. I probably scared him with that scream.

"Dad?!" Luca yelled, storming into the living room. The sun told me that it was past noon again.

I forced myself to calm down. That nightmare hadn't appeared for a long time. Why now? I saved Luca back there. He didn't die… a part of him did. The part that was cheery and fun loving. But he was still there.

Lime stormed into the room as well. "In the name of the creator! Why are you yelling like this?!" She complained. She didn't mean it in a serious way.

"…Nightmare…" was all I could say. Coming to think of it, I hadn't had any nightmares since I got here. Why did that change now?

Lime bit her lip, Luca stormed over to me and hugged me. "I'm alive. You don't have to be scared."

It was so silly, but those words always calmed me down. I always had nightmares, and they usually ended like this. Luca would storm into my room telling me that everything was alright.

"Rufus… what did you dream?" Lime wanted to know as she came closer.

"It's alright. Nothing to worry about. I should-" I was standing but my legs where shaking, I stumbled, dragging my son with me to the ground as I tried to find something to hold onto. I barely managed to shield his head from hitting on the hard ground. His long hair was flying for a moment then revealed the scare on the right side of his face. Lime gasped. He quickly covered the scar and his right ear, then stood. I appreciated that Lime didn't ask any questions.

Dio walked into the room now, he seemed like he had been asleep until now, hair fuzzy like that, the shirt unbuttoned. The arm in the bandage looked like it had always been there.

"What's all the..." He yawned. "Yelling about? Hell I feel like shit…"

"How about lunch?" Arme asked. She was fully dressed and was just walking in. Her hair was purple now. She had changed her haircolor?

"I'm definitely _not_ cooking today." Dio declared as he sat down next to Zero who still seemed a bit out of it.

"You don't have to! I lived alone, I can cook too!"

Dio laughed. "I won't eat anything you made."

"Then you have to stay hungry. I don't care!"

Luca glared at them. "Are they always like this?"

"Yes. Get used to it."

"Pathetic."

I shrugged.

"Where are the others?" I wanted to know.

"That Knight went home, Lass is still asleep and that Immortal guy said something about working."

"Probably reading porn." Dio laughed.

Luca frowned. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

Dio rolled his eyes. "Don't like a little fun?"

"The emotion called _ fun_ is a way to distract from duty. It can and will get in the way and is absolutely unnecessary."

Dio lifted an eyebrow and looked at Zero. "Did someone clone you and made you a humorless idiot?"

It was no use to talk to him about this. Luca believed it had been his own stupidity that gave him those scars. To be honest it was actually my fault for not allowing him to go play with his friends. He ran away because he thought I did that because I wanted to annoy him. After he got injured like that he had never really showed a honest smile and never laughed. No matter what I told him, he was refusing to believe me.

"I believe that is not the case, Dio."

"A least someone with a brain around here."

"Luca!" Lime warned.

"Leave him be… you can tell him what you want he won't listen…" I explained.

"Hell that kid is worse than you!" Dio muttered in my direction.

Luca stretched and totally ignored the comment. I sighed. This was screaming for verbal fights… When he woke up back in the castle he was surprised and interested. But real life seemed to have quickly settled in again. And I thought he finally would be able to find his smile again. In a way he was like me. But I had no one to take care of me back then. Sometimes I wondered if that was bad or maybe even good. Maybe a bit of both…

* * *

**So… I think nothing in there is actually said anywhere, making this a completely made up chapter xD**

**I put a lot of thought into it, actually used a lot of thoughts I had back when no one knew why Rufus' arm had a blue line. :D I was being mean to Dio again… But hey, he finally gained something :D**

**So… Luca finally got a personality. Although… that kid is no fun. I hope I wasn't focusing too much on him… D: (I started to like that kid.. forgive me D:)**


	23. Chapter 23

We were arguing about what to do next, Lass suggested we should hide, as they probably already searched for the killer of the queen. In the end we all came to the same conclusion. We couldn't stay in Kanavan or Bermesiah. It would've been better even leave Aernas. However, the only Dimensions we knew where not exactly made for humans. You needed a lot of expensive spells and charms so get one human over there. Now with four humans this would have cost a fortune and neither I nor my father had enough money to pay that. The only choices left were fighting a Guard of approximately four hundred men, or hiding in Elyos. The spells needed to protect a human there where easy to learn from what Dio told us. But there was another problem. Dio refused to set one foot into that dimension.

Lime suggested that we could open a portal to another continent. We learned that it was only possible to open a portal in Aernas if the other side existed in another dimension. We then decided to pass through Elyos and go to Xenia from there. We could use the help of the gods. Even if Ashtaroth wouldn't be involved in this. Lime was certain that they still resided there and no one could change her mind about it. Zero managed to get Grandark back into the sword after what seemed to be an hour of talking. The former sword decided that it would be better to be in the swords body, in case someone tried to capture it again. From what I learned that guy couldn't feel pain in there. I absentmindedly wondered how it could feel cold then, but I didn't spend too much time on that. Arme and Ronan learned the spells fairly quick. Zero had them in a book. That guy had all information stored somewhere. I got the feeling that he was more of a spy than Lass was.

Zero seemed a little pale when he opened the portal to Elyos and Dio didn't leave his side. I forgot about that when I got a look at the sight in front of me. Elyos was dark as well, not as dark as the Underworld though. The ground looked like it was wet, and was reflecting the light from billions of stars above us. I looked up and found myself stunned. The sky was a dark blue, mixed with a bit of purple. Two moons in the middle of it all. The bigger one was white, the smaller a dark and grayish blue just in front of the other.

I stumbled when someone ran into me.

"Stop spacing out, we're only passing through." My father told me.

I sighed, barely able to take my eyes off the sky. I've never seen something so beautiful.

"You're wasting your time on trivial things." My son told me.

I chose to ignore that comment. I knew he hated when I spaced out. It didn't happen often, but it was usually something like this. Sparkling things always got me. Especially stars as they didn't exist in the Underworld. Lass laughed at me when I asked him what the sparkling lights at night where. He thought I was making a joke back then.

We walked further, our shoes making weird noises as if walking over dry grass and small stones. It was an unpleasant sound.

I caught a glimpse of Dio who had started to shake. He was leading the way, but it didn't seem that he wanted to. He must've felt everyone's eyes on him as he turned.

"W-we need to find a better place to open another portal... you can't open them randomly …" He told us.

I know about that. It was the same in the Underworld. The portals created in Aernas usually led into a town in the Underworld, but I had no idea how that worked in Elyos. There was nothing that looked like a town nearby. Far away I saw something that seemed to resemble a castle, but that could've been mountains as well. There seemed to be a fire burning. Dio stopped when he noticed what I've been looking at.

He had told us before we got here, that we had to be prepared to fight at any second. He wasn't welcome there and no one else was. But the short walk went rather uneventful. We passed something crystal like that was glowing in a dark purple and gave off some unnerving energy, but that was all I found concerning.

A bit later Zero stopped and told us that the place we were standing at was a good one to open a portal. He didn't waste time to open it.

An unpleasant cold wind almost blew me off my feet when I stepped out of the portal. We were surrounded by snow and ice. The ground was slippery and it was hard not to fall. Arme and Lass led the way now. I've never been to Xenia before, but I heard them talking about it a lot. And whatever they said, it seemed to be true. I could see floating islands. When I realized that they were floating I suddenly felt sick. This was high up in the sky! Way too high for my taste. And then they even stopped at an old and not safe looking suspension bridge! I shook my head, rather staying here and freeze to death than seeing my last seconds while I was falling from the sky. I really had better plans on that.

"What are you doing, Dufus?" Sieghart asked. They were all already on the bridge, Lass and Arme even on the other side.

"I'll stay here." I declared. Even if I managed to get on that bridge, I wouldn't be able to move later on. No matter if I looked down or not. Water could kill from that height. I didn't need that.

Sieghart frowned, wanted to ask more, but my father silenced him. And took my arm.

"Close your eyes." He ordered.

It was no use to act selfish. They'd get me over there anyway. I did as I was told, but opened my eyes as soon as I heard the first cracking sound. The plank below me decided that it didn't want to endure my weight anymore and broke.

The grip on my arm tightened and pulled me forward. I stumbled, surprised to find solid ground below my feed again. Well. As solid as the ground on a floating island could be…

We passed a desert like place and soon entered a forest. Everything seemed abandoned. Even Lime hadn't said a word yet. And she used to pray to her gods all the time. Most of the forest was blocked with big logs of dead trees and we were forced to take a route quite close to the edge. I didn't like it on bit. The let me walk closer to the trees but my whole body was shaking. I couldn't do anything about it.

"This isn't right…" I heard Ronan mutter.

"Lord Perseo is high up in that tower. Maybe he didn't notice us." Arme stated with a nervous laugh.

"You know that the gods always know when someone entered their territory. Lady Yamini didn't even talk to us…" Lass answered.

"Maybe she was busy!" Arme tried to reason.

"They're not here. Look at the facts." My son stated.

Lime turned around, fury in her face. "Don't you dare to say something like that!"

Luca frowned, taking a step backwards. I lunged forward when I saw him slip. I was able to grab his shirt, but then I realized that I was falling as well. I felt an Arm around my waist, pulling me backwards. Zero had caught me.

"Holy shit…" Lass hissed when I fell on my knees. This was humiliating.

Luca stared at me, fear clear in his eyes.

"It's okay…" I whispered. "Nothing to worry about… "

"We should be more careful." Ronan told us.

With that we began to walk further through the forest. We could use the direct way now because the logs weren't blocking the way anymore. I felt a lot more comfortable with that. Something like that didn't need to happen again. Why was there no fence or something?

When we got out of the forest I saw something I absolutely didn't expect. Lord Perseo and Lady Gaia where sitting next to each other on the ground, and seemed to be lost in thoughts. Lime had described them at so many occasions; I knew who they were without even guessing. Lord Perseo looked a bit different than What Lime had told me, but he was definitely recognizable.

"Isn't that cute…" Sieghart muttered. He didn't seem too impressed when he approached them and cleared his throat rather loud.

Lady Gaia turned at the sound and rather quickly jumped to her feet. "Who might you be?" she asked.

Her face was red as if embarrassed. I was incredibly relieved that they were here though.

"You need to work on your memory, Gaia." Lord Perseo told her when he stood. "That is a part of the Grand Chase."

The goddess but a hand on her mouth and laughed nervously. "I did not expect you to be alive…" she muttered.

Didn't they know Sieghart? I mean everyone knew him… back then at least.

"Why are you here then?" Lord Perseo asked.

Ronan took a few steps forward and slightly bowed. "I apologize for barging into your territories like this, but we have a reason to think that Ashtaroth is back."

Lord Perseo frowned. He was a lot taller than me, even taller than Dio. It was a person you could fear. I wasn't afraid of him, but from what Lime told me, it wasn't wise to pick a fight with him.

"And he hid for so long. How did you find it out?"

"We found a stone with a power similar to the soul stone. Rufus brought it to a safe place, but we wanted to discuss this with you."

For a moment it was quiet. I really had no idea what they all talked about. The stone had an immense amount of power, that was true, but I had no idea what a soul stone could do.

"We heard a lot of things in the past years…" Lady Gaia told us.

For a moment I thought she wouldn't trust us, but then she continued to speak.

"We heard about some unfortunate things, and some very cruel ones. Lady Yamini had been really worked up about some of those…"

I quietly listened. They were gods; it wouldn't be wise to do anything without thinking.

"There is no reason not to trust you." She continued. "But we can only move when we know what Ashtaroth is planning."

Sieghart then explained the whole situations why we came here in the first place. Lady Gaia agreed that it wouldn't be a good decision to let us get caught and probably tortured to death. After everything was told that seemed necessary it quieted down again. I was about to tell them that it was better to leave now when Lord Perseo spoke.

"We could use some help on this continent. I am sure everyone would be alright if we let you stay here."

What? On this… _floating_ island?! I silently wished for them to say no, but I knew the answer already.

"Are you sure? We are not exactly good company most of the time…" Dio told them. I didn't know why but he seemed wary.

"All of you have suffered. Most of you used to do good for the world, and they still forgot you. They even forgot us." Lady Gaia muttered.

That was true. After I had left, everything got worse. I still blamed myself for it… But I was probably the one suffering the least of all.

"While we cannot reverse time, we can give you a place to stay. If you are willing to help us in exchange."

"No matter what it is, I will help." Lime told them.

Lady Gaia smiled at her. "Are you willing to do that too?"

I looked at them. My son didn't nod, as well as Dio and Zero and my father. I refused as well.

"May I hear your reasons for disagreeing?" Lady Gaia asked us.

"There is no reason to stay in a place like this. We are going to die anyway." My son told her.

She nodded and looked at me as if expecting an answer.

"I cannot trust you." I muttered.

My father blabbed something about having duties back at home. He was clearly lying. I wondered why he was so upset. We dealt with strange things almost every day.

Zero told her that he didn't want to leave Dio's side, and if Dio disagreed he would follow him.

Dio however had a really strange reason. For him it was strange at least. I never heard him say something like this.

"I lived through something like that before. How can I be sure you won't ban us when me make a mistake? Can you promise that you will not harm us?"

It was strange to hear him talking like that. Dio usually didn't get this serious.

"I apologize." Lady Gaia told him. "Despite your attitude, you are a kind being. If I had any power over Elyos I would have wanted to prevent what happened to you."

Dio frowned. "What do you know?"

"We know everything that happened to all of you. I cannot say who suffered the most, but I feel like I have failed you. My duty is to protect life, but all I could do was reincarnating the kind souls."

So it worked like that? We collected the souls and she reincarnated them? I was confused. I never really thought much about that process.

"Then you probably understand that I don't like to be the servant of someone with a higher position." Dio hissed. He seemed to get angrier by the second and Zero had a hard time to calm him down.

"Come here for a bit Dio." Lady Gaia told him.

He complied after Zero talked to him. "It is unfair to say that you have suffered the most, but you are the one who has the biggest difficulties living with it."

Was that true? Lass got over it, Zero never talked about what happened to him… I had no idea.

"Turn around and look at them."

Dio turned, looked at us. "They all tried to help you, isn't that true? They even replaced your arm."

"What are you talking about?"

"They care about you, don't they? And you found love among them."

She walked closer to him and put a hand on his back. "Don't move." She ordered.

I was confused. She slowly moved her hand backwards in an arc. A bright light followed her. I had to look away. My eyes were not made for lights that bright.

"Whoa!" I heard Arme exclaim.

I dared to look. Dio was sitting on the ground now, obviously crying. I needed a moment to realize why.

She gave him his wings back. They were exposed, lazily hanging down, but they looked like I remembered them.

"How… is that possible?" I heard Zero ask. He was walking over to Dio, probably trying to comfort him.

"I reconstructed the structure from his memories… I believe that a demonstration of my power was needed to erase the doubts. I cannot erase memories, but I believe that all of you need some time to relax. Isn't that true?"

I was stunned. I couldn't move at all. This was something I didn't expect, but even if this didn't directly concern me it made me happy for some reason. I had the feeling that all this suffering had come to an end now.

"You're staying now?" She asked us with a smile. "It's really boring with the same people for centuries..."

I nodded. Lime would stay here, so there was no reason to leave again. ;y son could use some experience in what it meant so socialize with people, and the others… I never so them like that before, but they actually became my family in all the years I had stayed with them back then. Who wouldn't want to be with their family?

The real life would start soon enough. But for now, being happy didn't hurt anyone, did it?

* * *

_**DONE! Sorry for taking so long on the last one. I had no idea how to put all of this into one chapter… this is the 4**__**th**__** try xD**_

_**I focused too much on Dio at the end, Lass barely said anything. I actually forgot Ronan was with them most of the time and uh.. yeah. Questions?**_

_**ASK THEM :D**_


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